Now we know why pearl was so upset that rose had a lion. and when garnet said: " rose kept many secrets" pearl: " But not from ME!" I first thought that pearl was just salty but now the impact hits tenfold.
That's why I hate that Greg never reacted to marrying a Diamond and lying to him about the potential danger that Steven would go through. I can't even watch Mr Greg now, Rose doesn't deserve it.
That's true and it's one of my biggest problems with her she abandoned everyone for her own needs, she had steven and didn't even give him a heads up no advice what so ever and start a war with a fake icon and caused thousands of deaths gems and humans (Greg says when jasper first arrives) she should've stayed as pink diamond
Greg: 'Gee, and I was under impression that she was selfish when she borrow my best shirt without asking and drop some mustard on it while eating hot dogs.' Pearl: 'Oh, you have no idea what she is capable to do without asking anybodys opinion first.'
Christian Craig I just wish that Steven can just "Chrystalize Rose Quartz" It's just like Butterfly family Chrystalized Eclipsa in "Star vs The Forces of Evil", just like what Queen Moon did to Eclipsa, also Steven and his fellow Gem can use her Power to their own Good....
People always forget to count that Rose flashbacks are also Pink Diamond. If you take both of them together, you can see how she is. I think she is a child, but became more mature aka Rose.
Adrian SH gems can't grow or change - the moment she became more mature (or got the potential for that) is when she became steven. All charakter changes we saw in gems where influenced by steven, therefore pink D.'s power to alter a gems character program
Tiefsee - That's debatable. You're right based on what was technically said in the show, but while gems don't change their whole personality, they do learn and mature based on what we've seen. Ruby and Sapphire, for instance, learn a greater understanding of each other. Pearl learns things a Pearl normally wouldn't. Pink eventually learned to respect humans by meeting Greg.
CSolarstorm fusions are known to behave outside of their normal programming (like aquamarine staited) diamomds aren't like any other gem and pearl, her programming is sltered by permanent expurse to a diamond that can't control it's powers
Gems clearly do grow and change through the show though. The idea that a gem is what it is and never changes is shown to be a lie of Homeworld multiple times. Its why Peridot goes from being a cold and calculating person who is willing to write things off as pointless to someone who sees value in a lot of things. It is why Jasper became bitter and insane. It is why Lapis became traumatized and closed off. Amethyst changes to be more mature from the Greg Flashbacks to present day, and develops a self image complex to boot. Ruby and Saphire also change as gems, and not just as a fusion. Our Ruby shows more personal initiative and intelligence, and our Sapphire is less detached than she was at first. Rubies didn't seem to be an affectionate sap but grew to love someone else and that changed her. Hell, Pearl literally in these clips changes as a person, to say that gems can't grow or change when Pearl explicitly changed as a result of the events she went through is a bit silly, even if you assume this Pearl was already a fearsome warrior with a flair for grace and precision when created, which is unlikely.
Joe Johnston said that Pearl was forced to follow Pink's orders, because she was "programed" that way. She literally couldn't speak about Rose's identity. Quite creepy. By the way, yes, it only applies to Pearl.
She was programmed to follow orders, but she still had a mind of her own. Like all gems, she doesn’t have to be satisfied with her purpose, and she can disagree. It’s improtant to remember that Pink Rose ASKED Pearl to join her, even spelled out the consequences, in Rose’s Scabbard. And Pearl chose to join her. In this last episode, Pink Rose argued her plan to Pearl, did not order her to carry it out. Pearl’s motivations were her own. And after Pink reformed as Rose permanently, she was free.
This a bold face lie. He clearly states that she followed that command because of her 'programing' and that it was something she was proud of for the longest time.
Yeah pearl was so free that an order they were given hundreds or was it thousands of years ago, they couldn't break away from. Ask and Order are too different things. If Pink ordered pearl to do it. Pearl would have had no choice but to obey. Oh wait Pink ordered Pearl to never speak about this and Pearl never did. Even when pearl wanted to and tried to force themselves to speak about it. Pearl couldn't. Gems can do what they like but if there god orders them to do something or be a certain way. They have no choice but to obey. Gem's are programmed that way. So it's absolute. It doesn't matter if they have a mind of their own. There free will is an illusion when order by there diamonds. But I think it can be counter. Pink order pearl to not talk about it. The order said nothing about showing. So the orders have loopholes in a sense(well depending on the order anyways)
Seeing peridot challenging her own diamond makes me figure. The gems only obey when they trust their diamonds intentions or actions. So pearl trusted Rose all this time and that's why she didn't disobey.
This is only true if you’re talking strictly about the order to not speak. Yes, Joe DID say that command left her physically unable to do anything but obey it. (Though he also said it was a secret she was very proud of keeping for a long time, so it’s same to assume she probably wouldn’t have said anything regardless of physical limitations up until Steven was in the picture) BUT. He also said Pink Diamond approached Pearl as a friend in deciding on the faked shattering. According to him, that was something they both agreed on. You could argue that Pearl’s decision would be obvious because Pink was the one approaching her, but she still was given a choice in whether or not to go along with Pink’s plan.
Pearls were made to follow all their master's commands. That's why Pearl was silenced by Rose. She wouldn't haven't been able to silence other gems. Also, PD had to become Rose because of the message that "We're all equal! If I, a common gem, can revolt and win, then you can too!" This wouldn't exactly work out if she led the revolt as Pink. People would dismiss her because of the difference between their powers and position. But still, the way Rose/Pink handled it was very immature and childish.
I disagree to a degree because the idea of a Diamond rebelling would’ve had a HUGE impact. She’s at the top of the hierarchy so if she of all gems says “No this is wrong I won’t let you do this” many gems would follow that Diamond. However Pink wanted to be like other gems, unburdened by her status and able to freely converse amongst them (because as a Rose Quartz she was no longer the most ‘valuable’ amongst them, Rose Quartz are on the same level as Amethyst and she’s outranked by Sapphire) she wanted her Anonymity so she fought as Rose Quartz. She literally created a whole new person for her to become
I’d like to think that, by him going into the gem and learning the truth, the seal is already broken. The point was for nobody to find out. With the secret finally exposed, she might be able to talk about it.
No, the point was to never speak about it. which is why pink covered pearl's mouth with there own hands but The order said nothing about showing. So no, I don't think the seal was lifted. Pearl just found a loophole in pink diamond's order
Whats funny is that when you look at everything Rose/Pink Diamond has done the biggest thing to take from it is that no matter how you view her she is the reason this show even happens >D
Which actually underlines her role as the show's main antagonist even more. In classical storytelling, the one who always sets a plot in motion? Either a situation to overcome or a villain. Examples: The only reason why we have Batman? Because a bad guy shot his parents in an alley. The only reason we have Star Wars? Because there is an evil guy in a bathrobe and his asthmatic sidekick who want to blow planets up and some people are not okay with that. As umb as it sounds, remove Rose from the equation and most peoples and gems life would most likely be for the better.
Actually, the reason the show happens is because of Blue, Yellow, and White. When Pink said she wanted to stop the invasion and preserve life on earth, what did the other diamonds do? They straight up ignored her. If they had just listened to her wishes, there would be no show, no cluster, no Steven, and no fucking issues. It's like everyone looks at the 3 living diamonds and says "oh they didn't abuse their baby sister mentally and emotionally, they were just playing with her."
The rose quarts weren't put into extinction. They're all still alive. It would better to say Rose's actions led to a whole type of gem to be discriminated against and locked away in a prison forever.
Extinction means the eradication of a species and its progeny. If a gem is inactive by being poofed, they could be considered dead enough to count, and if no more gems of that type were to be made, that would count as progeny being gone as well. Meaning, yes they would be. The thing that concerns me the most is that the bubbles are *pink.* So who did the deed of bubbling them?
Ayelis Greg's words probably represent Rose's feelings only. Garnet's components weren't involved in planning the colony, Pearl had no influence, and Amethyst emerged after the rebellion.
@@marinasplanet255 Apparently (from her words to Steven in On The Run) Amethyst emerged alone, and the Crystal Gems were the first entities she'd encountered after who-knows how long after emergence. In any case, she never witnessed the war, as was indicated by the opening scene in Rose's Scabbard.
According to the timeline published in the last SU art book, Amethyst emerged 500 years before she was finally found by Rose, Pearl and Garnet. While the timeline states that she emerged 5000 years ago, Amethyst had to have done this after the war, because she would have been corrupted had she emerged before the nuke at the end of the war.
I, for one, don't think that Pink took the identity of a rose quartz and start a rebellion with it so that the diamonds would let her evacuate. I think, that the purpose of starting the rebellion under a mask, is to get the lower class gems to follow the idea of freedom instead of the orders of a diamond. If she ordered the gems under her court to fight against homeworld, how would she be different than the rest of the diamonds? I think, this way, she introduced them to the idea of freedom, and allowed them to make their own choice.
In Now We're Only Falling Apart, Pearl related how when the Diamonds refused to halt the destruction of Earth, PD would become someone whom the other Diamonds couldn't ignore, i.e. Rose Quartz, the seemingly unstoppable rebel Gem guerrilla, intending to frighten all Homeworld Gems off Earth. Social change for Gems apparently didn't figure in her decision; and it was only her encounter with Garnet that might have added that element to the rebellion, which probably the actual key to the Crystal Gems' eventual success. Certainly, IMO, while Pink seemingly was the only Diamond (and one of the few Gems in general) who had a sense of compassion and justice, she would never have compromised the survival of Earth in favor of a more enlightened Gem society. I don't doubt that she was sincere in her personal beliefs and wishes for a more just Gem society, but that wasn't going to come at the cost of Earth's biosphere.
Rose only lied because the rebellion couldn't have started with a diamond no one would follow her they'd just think it's stupid to want to get out of such a high rank. She became rose quartz to inspire gems to be themselves just as she realized she had wanted all along. If she didn't want to help gems and the earth she could have shape shifted and ran off and hid long ago but she devised plans to save not only the earth but all the gems that joined her. She didn't fight just for her own selfish reasons she truly changed and wanted to protect those around her and the sad truth is she had to lie and hurt a lot of people to do so
I thought Pearl's covering her mouth was more of a psychological reaction, rather than Rose forcing her to do it, and I saw Rose's "last order as a Diamond" as more of a request.
You forgot one of the most selfish things. When Steven asked "Rose" : "Did you just make me so you can run away from your mistakes?!" ...hes kinda right. Why would Rose even go along with having a child knowing Homeworld would eventually return ? She didn't care, she wanted a baby.
If Homeworld hadn't returned in the 5000 years prior to Steven's birth, what was there to indicate that they would return in the next 5000 years? (Indeed, when Homeworld did come back it wasn't to re-conquer Earth, but to monitor progress on the final stages of The Cluster.)
At first I always assumed that Rose treated Greg like that (when he tried to fuse with her) is because at that point she didn't understand human empathy yet. They are 2 different species and function differently. But then I thought about how it was stated Rose has been with other humans before Greg. How come she didn't understand human emotions then? She had experience with humans, right? Maybe Greg was the first one that challenged her, as you stated. The first human, heck, species, that confronted her and made her think about things.
"You know Rose, she always did what she wanted." Yeah, because no one tells a Diamond what they can or cannot do. Why do you think Pink Diamond got so angry when Yellow told her not to touch the hologram panel? I get that she wanted to be treated as equal, but she got so upset over it she punched a mirror! She also demanded Yellow that she wanted her own planet and army acting like a little tyrant. You know how Rose told Greg that all gems are born already knowing what their purpose is? Like how pearls are made to be loyal servants. Pearl likes to say she's independent yet has an odd fascination/obsession towards Rose. What if that saying also applies to Diamonds? Pink does seem to care about those close to her but sometimes has her own needs placed before others. Like how she wanted to stay on Earth just because she liked it and easily forgot about Blue and Yellow and how they would react to her "death". Remember that Blue Diamond stated that her and Pink were very close yet Pink still decided to go along with her plan. I don't hate Pink Diamond btw, guys! But this is just my observation. idk :-/
The true villains were the ones who escalated the war to shattering. The true villains were the ones who gathered up the remains of their dead and stitched them together into undead monstrosities. The true villains caused corruption on the survivors. Who bubbled an entire cut of gem by association. You say, “she did not care”, but everything started because she did care. She was a brat who demanded a colony of her own. But once she got one, she looked around at what she was doing, and changed. She saw beauty in life, and didn’t want to destroy it. Which, in case forgotten was her purpose as a Diamond. To expand their race through the destruction of everything else. And, we saw that she did try to abandon the colony as a Diamond. She went to the others and said she wanted to quit because of the organic life. And again because she didn’t want to dismantle human settlements. And the other Diamonds called these excuses, and told her to act like a Diamond. She stood up, and they marginalized her feelings, telling her to get back to what she was supposed to do. Then she created the rebellion, and yes, this was a foolish, impulsive mistake. But one she probably thought she had control of. The plan was to create an excuse to abandon the colony, one more serious than “I don’t want to kill the flowers.” And at the start of the war, it was just Pinks Forces, and Roses rebels. Think about how that era of the war was carried out. Think about the fun loving Famithysts, who disobeyed their superiors to help the Crystal Gems escape the Zoo. Do you think they were shattering? There’s also the matter of, did she genuinely want gems to have the freedom to choose? I think she was genuine in that part. The question is, would that have worked if she did it as a Diamond? I don’t think so, but I’ll talk about that below. But again, Blue and Yellow refused to let her quit, and they got involved themselves. Pink even tried to scare Blue off with an attack on her. But she lost control of the situation. And yes, she is partially to blame. But she is not the one who escalated the war and committed atrocities in the name of victory. She was running out of options. And again, she made annother impulsive mistake. She heard Blue’s words, and thought she finally had an out. There would be no colony without her. And consider that for a moment. The plan up to that point was to leave Earth in disgrace, a failure as a Diamond. She was willing to sacrifice her status as an equal, to save humanity and free the Crystal Gems. The faked death was the last resort. But her mistake was in her perception of Blue and Yellow. “They never cared.” Every instance we’ve seen of them interacting, was of them talking down to her, silencing her, marginalizing her. We know, thanks to hindsight, that they cared very deeply. But how they act now, is not how they acted then. Just like Pink growing from that bratty tantrum, to someone who wanted to disgrace herself to save Earth, Blue and Yellow used to be cold and ruthless. Now, the disagreement of what Pink could have done differently, comes down to trying to predict an unknown outcome from something that didn’t happen. Which is impossible. A lot of people keep saying she should have been more assertive, or led the rebellion as a Diamond. But would that have lead to the other Diamonds respecting her and allowing her to do what she wanted with Earth? Or would they have seen her as defective and crushed her, leading to a different colored flag being planted on humanity’s corpses? I lean towards the latter, but I can’t know for sure. I think she did the best she could with few options, and while she succeeded in saving humanity, she failed to stop or anticipate the worst of the other Diamond’s malice and cruelty. A final aside, I’d like to point out that we only ever saw Pink give Pearl one Order. In Rose’s Scabbard and this last episode, she Asked Pearl to join her. And I don’t think Pearl was the one who got the worst of the deal. She lived with the woman she love for 4 thousand years. She was free to expand herself to be a warrior and an engineer. And she chose that life.
I don’t think she thought she could lead a rebellion as a DIAMOND. She could’ve felt trapped. Not thinking the odds would be good in her favor considering..three diamonds against 1.. She was LOCKED UP by the other diamonds. So she was kinda silenced to now after all the other episodes. So she could’ve not known any better, thinking that silencing people like pearl was okay. White seemed very abusive too. Blue and yellow didn’t listen. So she could’ve been silenced so many times. I wouldn’t exactly say selfish, because when you have the life like what she did on home world. I wouldn’t be surprised on why she acts the way she did. I think white diamond is the new villain yes yes even after well..Change your mind. She truly was the hiding villain. I guess? Not sure.
There is a difference between being a child and actually having mental retardation. Pink Diamond was retarded. She was supposed to be an adult. But no. She came out defective. Off-color. Unworthy of existence. She should have been shattered just for existing.
For everyone getting upset about Rose being called a villain: *There is no true villain in Steven Universe.* Rebecca Sugar said it herself. However, if we were to pick out one character in here who caused the most harm, destruction, and chaos it would be Rose. Whether she meant to or not, she hurt a lot of people. She is the closest thing to a villain this show could have.
I still disagree with that on the basis of having the Diamonds. Despite what Rose did, the Diamonds commit mass genocide on organic life across the universe and destroyed multiple planets. If it weren't for Rose, Earth would've been next on the chopping block. Frankly, Yellow and Blue come off as much more "villainous" then Pink.
Lucas Martinez Agreed. While I think Rose/Pink made some big mistakes, she eventually fought against the colonization of Earth which would have completely wiped out all life on it as they would have had little chance of fighting back and winning on their own. Meanwhile, the remaining diamonds retaliated. If Pink didn't start the rebellion I would imagine the other diamonds would have taken Earth for their own and made sure it was mined until it was destroyed. Then they would have just moved along to the next life-sustaining planet to do the same thing. I really don't think Pink would have had a lot of options for stopping them.
Yeah I agree, but since Gems more of less have a set programing its hard for me to argue that what rose did was entirely wrong as she has no empathy, which is stated by Rebecca Sugar. In a nutshell she is a child, who saw humans as entertainment and gems as tools and didnt really know better until the later half of her life learning how to mature by being with greg.
Bullshit. No true villain in Steven Universe? How about the race of aliens that destroy entire planets so that they can grow like viri in the soil of a planet and make if uninhabitable? Or when Ronaldo was willing to kill Lars? No one in Steven Universe may be a mustache twirling evil guy who laughs all the time in how they bring misery to everyone, but Rose/Pink, Yellow Diamond and other characters genuinely act out of one certain anti virtue: Selfishness. A character attribute genuinely associated with evil. Rose is a villain and the fact that Rebecca Sugar can not admit her own shortcomings as a writer when it comes to creating ambiguous characters is one reason why Steven Universe is this mess of a show it truly is.
@Sarvesh Sundaram I respectfully disagree. Pink Diamond may have changed her appearance when she became Rose Quartz, but her personality didn't really change all that much. The disrespect Rose showed Greg in the episode "we need to talk" is proof that in all the millennia since the end of the gem war Pink Diamond's mentality hasn't really changed.
@Sarvesh Sundaram no. Remember Pearl confirmed that Pink Diamond as Rose Quartz has had relationships with humans before Greg on her own whims. This shows that Pink Diamond may have liked humans but she didn't respect them due to her diamond mentality.
@Sarvesh Sundaram we are talking about Pink Diamond not the other crystal gems, and even then Garnet and Amethyst had more respect for humans than Pink Diamond did. Pearl was indifferent to humans, especially those who were in a relationship with Pink Diamond. Pink Diamond only had a serious relationship with Greg after he called her out on being disrespectful to him.
@Sarvesh Sundaram first of all, I still think that pearl was more indifferent to humans than rude due to her feelings for Pink Diamond. Secondly, Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz can't be considered different people because their personalities aren't that different. In fact, Pink Diamond barely changed after becoming Rose Quartz. Pearl and Greg even stated that Pink Diamond aka Rose Quartz always did what she wanted. The only selfless things she did was try to save the earth and try to fight for other gems who didn't fit in to homeworld's standards. Pink still forced heavy burden on Pearl, had a hand in most gems on earth being corrupted, Spinel being left alone in the garden, and disappearing without resolving the problems she left behind. Pink Diamond may not have been evil, but considering all the terrible things she did, she can't be considered a different person let alone a better person.
@Sarvesh Sundaram if you feel that Pink Diamond became a better person, that's fine. I however cannot consider her a better person due to her actions, her choices, the consequences for those choices, and the fact that we don't see any signs of regret for her actions. Even the remaining diamonds, who have done worse things than Pink Diamond did, have shown regret for their actions, especially towards Pink Diamond and Steven. The diamonds have even been shown to a least try to make up for their past mistakes. The most we've seen of Pink Diamond making up for her mistakes was something we didn't even see her do: trying to heal the corrupted gems. Aside from that, we don't even see Pink Diamond making up for Spinel, when she clearly had a ship to return to the garden. Not to mention, she disappeared leaving things with homeworld unresolved, and on what can be perceived as a whim by deciding to have a child. I feel that like the other diamonds, Pink Diamond hasn't done enough good to balance out the bad, but unlike the other diamonds, Pink Diamond hasn't shown that she's trying to make up for past mistakes.
People have always kept claiming that Rose is the "true villain" before this reveal, because she bubbled Bismuth and shattered Pink Diamond. Yet they seem to forget that Rose in doing so saved humanity from being wiped out by the gems to create another colony. She inspired gems to rise up and escape slavery to the Diamonds whims. She was a hero, the Diamonds truly were evil considering they've wiped out countless other worlds to create colonies all across space. So beforehand I wouldn't have minded if she did shatter Pink Diamond because of that. People are playing up the Diamonds and the Homeworld loyalists as "heroes" despite all evidence we've seen previously of them being monsters who care nothing for innocent lives. Rose, despite her flaws fought to save lives, not to take them. Now though, the reveal that she was Pink Diamond all along kind of ruins that. Rose being a lower class gem that rose up to fight for something greater was much more inspiring, this does make Pink/Rose seem like an irresponsible moron. As well as makes little sense when you think about in how Pink was able to pull this off.
But why lie about being a rose quartz she would've had more of an advantage as pink diamond it also would've shown blue and yellow pink means business also leaving her problems for steven without any advice or help what so ever
@@alissaoldham7128 Because if the other Diamonds knew it was Pink leading the Rebellion, they would have just come themselves to take Pink back to Homeworld as punishment. As long as they think Rose is someone else, they entrust Pink to handle the Rebellion on Earth and so don't directly interfere. She had no choice with leaving it for Steven, as having Steven meant she was doomed to cease existing. Also, she had been trying for over a thousand years to put things right, but couldn't. She felt Steven could succeed where she failed.
When analyzing Pink diamond's case I take into account a discussion our high school literature teacher had with us about the bible "I believe Jesus shouldn't have been perceived as half-god half-human but entirely human despite his birth process. If long ago the most popular interpretation was that he was human, people wouldn't think he's capable of spreading so much love and good just because he's partially a god. That would have made him seem like a better example for all of us and acting like him would have seemed like a much more achievable goal". I hope Steven universe ends up stating this was Rose quartz's main intention - to make the smaller gems, the non-diamonds, feel powerful enough to overthrow the entire system. If the rebellion happened with Pink diamond in the lead, the other gems would just feel as if they're following orders once again.
The only argument I have about Garnets future vision is that she has to get to know the gems/people in relation to the vision. But, if Rose had told Garnet about her being Pink, then Garnet could have foresaw the corruption light/blast.
She isn't a villain, she's just misguided, she was put upon by the other diamond how to act and their expectations of her, so when she began to think for herself, she was still young and didn't have anyone to guide her, rather she had to figure it all out herself. In stevens case, he had his dad, the gems, the friends he made, and he grew up because of them. Pink never had that, she had to learn things, and she made mistakes, but still grew into a better person then she was.
Okay. For anyone who hates on this video, Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and although I don’t fully agree with this particular theory, I still admire it for all the hard work you put into making this theory and I respect your opinion and understand why you feel like this is the case. I’m not going to try and debunk it or hate on you for having a different opinion and coming up with this theory. I still enjoyed this and I think this could potentially be the case. This was a lovely theory and I’m glad you made this.
and people can have an opinion of an opinion, even more if it's out there, like someone can think something is horrible, and some people can dislike it
I can understand your point - however, regardless of how someone feels about a theory, or how much work is put into a theory, the best way that you can show your respect to a theory crafter is to push and prod and point out the flaws and gaps within the theory so that the creator can hone their craft and so that the conversation can continue to build as individuals learn more about the characters and world.
Luna Snyder, i can summarize that, if you express hatred in your opinions, dont expect everyone to agree with you, and you can hear the anger and hatred in her voice, that i cannot respect, i already left a comment directed to her, if she reads it fine if she doent fine, at least i expressed my own opinion.
SliceofOtaku did do a video about what would've happened if Garnet knew about Rose's secret, then she could've seen the possible outcome of the corruption light. Ultimately the choices Rose/PD did (even if the intentions were good), MANY HUMANS AND GEMS WE'RE DESTROYED and are feeling the effects of it to this day.
I feel there is still more to this. For one thing yes this makes her more of an anti-hero, not a villain but on the other hand Pink did get childish but I don't think she is bad. She did get impacted by Greg
Way back in Rose’s Scabbard Pearl showed that she was giddy and honored that there were things Rose only told her and no one else. I think that she was honored that she got to keep such a big secret. Pearl first covers her mouth in Back to the Moon when Eyeball reveals the story that Rose shattered Pink Diamond. Steven becomes visibly upset about this because he cannot imagine that his mother shattering anyone. I feel that Pearl was more shaken up at the fact that she couldn’t assure Steven that his mother in fact did not shatter anyone.
I don't think she had Garnet at that time, from what we see in the clips the other diamonds are telling pink she needs to handle her own problems. So blue would not have interfered on Earth till after the shattering of pink, so Ruby and Sapphire couldn't have met and fused prior to to this plan. What also confuses me is when did Rose meet bismuth we see she already has the sword that she had mad for rose. I would like to see a timeline to clear these ideas up.
The shattering plan came at the very end of the war, when all other attempts had failed to get the Diamonds to abandon the colony. The war started as just Pink’s forces and Rose’s rebels, when Pink had control of the situation, and was trying to make an excuse to leave. But Blue and Yellow stepped in to assist, and escalated the war. In The Answer, we saw Rose try to scare Blue off, but failed. That was shortly after Blue came to Earth, after the war had been going on for a while. The total war went on for almost a thousand years.
Garnet can only predict the future that she has information about. Since she didn't know the truth there was no way she could predict any outcome concerning the shattering. PS, the answer was at the beginning of the gem war
No, she would've had Garnet already. The way it's portrayed in the show implies that the war ended VERY quickly after Pink's shattering. The sequence of events as given in the show is: The war starts. Yellow and Blue get involved. Pink fakes her own death in an attempt to end the war, and the other diamonds send the corrupting light as retaliation.
I'm sure the "seal" that Pink put on Pearl was purely metaphorical. Pearl kept the secret because she still had the basic mentality of a pearl serving their diamond. She never outgrew that phase, even when she rebelled against home world for thousands of years. Even when Pink was gone, Pearl never said anything to Steven or the other gems because she couldn't break her conditioning as a servant. Even when she finally managed to "tell" Steven, she didnt really tell him. Her guilt finally caught up with her and used the phone as an excuse to finally tell him the truth by showing it to him. So pearl managed to keep her promise with Pink without breaking it.
I really don't see Rose/Pink Diamond as evil just very naive. She was doing what she felt was the right thing, and meant well by it, she just went about it the VERY wrong way. I also think that maybe she originated the "gemsona" of Rose Quartz as an escape from the duties and confines of being a Diamond, and then the rebellion came into it along the way.
@TheLuigifan8881 Where on the show does it indicate that Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz didn't care or was ignorant about what would happen to those who fought for her? In Rose's Scabbard she tells Pearl explicitly about what would happen if she joined the rebellion, whether they won or lost. There was no indication on the show that Rose knew or could reasonably guess that Homeworld was coming back in the next 5000 years when they hadn't in the previous 5000. The only source of danger to Steven was from a few corrupted Gems, who could be dealt with by GAP. As for Greg, if he told Rose that he accepted the consequences of Steven's birth, then no one can claim that Steven was abandoned to him. Spinel: who knows?
In my opinion, I think that Pink shouldn’t be hated so much for leaving spinel. She had pink pearl taken away from her by the diamonds, so she was looking for someone else to replace her. Soon she realized that she couldn’t replace pink pearl, even with someone as bright and new as spinel, so she had to move on. She was ready to mature and grow, lead her own colony, help earth, but she didn’t know how to properly end this chapter of her life. She had barely learned even the slightest concept of feelings besides her own until after she met Greg. She was treated so horribly by the diamonds and her reason for being so childish and selfish for so long was that she was never taught by the diamonds of how to be mature, she was only lectured and tortured. She could have also wanted to not be like the diamonds, as they were destructive and evil (before the rebellion ended obviously), but then again, she new nothing better than the “evil”. Pink became accustomed to this harmful and selfish lifestyle, and she had no one to teach her how to be good. This is why I feel that spinel being left in the garden and pink being so immature is caused by the diamonds who constantly trapped Pink in a cycle of hurt and dependence. But Rose could have taken responsibility for her immaturity and put in the extra effort to learn maturity on her own, if she wasn’t constantly trapped in blue’s chamber. This whole thing is so morally confusing- I thought this was a kids show lol
@@kiryee So I guess we aren't blaming the diamonds either, since they were influenced by white and their progamming to lead gem kind. I mean sure, that does make their actions less horrible but it doesn't fix them completely, they still could have recognised the suffereing they inflicted upon their underlings. Same with Spinel except worse. She could have rescued Spinel at any point, she could have done when she was bored as hell while running the colony, she could have done it as rose and then turned Spinel into a Crystal gem or even just as pink. Although she'd likely do it as Rose because there would be a good chance of Spinel accidently ratting out Pink diamond, especially at the begining. She completly forgot about Spinel, even just days after leaving her.
She isn't different. We simply have to attribute all of 'Rose's' actions to Pink Diamond, now, which means that the real 'different' character is... Pink Diamond. We did actually know Rose (nee PD), we just didn't actually know Pink. Now we do, a bit more. Rose isn't a villain- Pink simply... wasn't.
If by 'villain' we mean the most morally compromised character then yes. But Sugar claims their are no villains in SU, and I think Sugar means that their are no 2 Dimensional 'Snidely Whiplash' characters that are just sadists. Pink is not sadistic, she dose not draw pleasure from anyone's suffering and dose not wish to hurt anyone. The problem is that she dose not CARE if she hurts people, because Pink is a Sociopath who lacks empathy for others.
They’ve shown that she cares quite a bit, she just doesn’t always consider all the consequences and acts impulsively. After begging for a colony, a chance to prove herself, she tried on multiple occasions to abandon the colony to protect organic life and the humans. Consider that. What would happen to Pink if she had succeeded in just leaving? She would have failed as a Diamond, she would have been disgraced. She only decided to live on Earth after she started the rebellion. Also consider her words to Garnet in The Answer. “Who cares how I feel, how you feel is way more interesting.” That is the opposite of sociopathy.
She didn't abandoned the colony she tried to save it did you even watch the show, the reason earth still exists is because she realized how horrible colonizing was and tried to do something about it.
She literally has massive amounts of empathy, she just so happens to be a fucking alien, all the crystal gems are not quite in tune with humanity. They all keep learning more and more things about it. are you high? Christ....
Except the Diamonds really are villains. Jasper really is a villain. Their motivations may be complex, but their actions still result in billions being threatened and lives lost. The Diamonds have destroyed god knows how many worlds to create colonies and wiped out who knows how many species without even giving a damn. And they were going to do the same to Earth and wipe out the human race. First for simply resources, then as a revenge for the rebellion with the Cluster. They authorized the use of shattered gems to be experiemented on. They shatter any gem who steps out of line or worse. They are evil. Sugar's comment that "there are no villains in Steven Universe" is dumb, since she clearly created some very sinister, ruthless, and overall monstrous villains in the Diamonds. It doesn't matter if they aren't sadistic in their actions, they're still responsible for genocide and war crimes.
After watching your 10 minute video on Rose, I totally agree with what you said on all that. I think it’s also the same reason why I have conflicting feelings on this. On one hand I really liked the reveal cause it’s a big game changer in the show and it really places more emphasis on earlier episodes which feature Rose and you can really understand what Rose/ Pink Diamond was doing. On the other hand, I was disappointed that Pink Diamond was written as a childish character. In my opinion, I think it really reverses earlier arcs and I’d prefer if Pink was a more mature and threatening character and that she was really shattered. She could’ve been written as a mature character but kind as well. I think a better plot twist would have been that Pink was a really kind but strict Diamond or something along those lines and then when Rose shattered her, it would have a more impact on Steven. That’s just my opinion on that. Not saying it would work but I think it would be a better alternative. Whether you like the reveal or not, I’m still super hyped for future episodes. I think the best thing about the reveal is that it shows that Pink is the true villain of the show. It’s a huge plot twist when you think of it that way. Anyway great video! I love your analysis and it’s really well written and researched. Your one of the best Steven universe based content I’ve seen in the fandom. I can’t wait to see more videos from you on Steven Universe in the future! 🌷
#AriTheLegend27 Blue’s personality type comes off to me as more of a shy strict kind and soft type. For Pink i meant I would’ve liked her personality to be more mature. What kind of personality she would have, i really don’t know. I just gave that as an example of something she could be. I’m really not fond of her childish character and the way she was written. I feel like the crew could’ve done a better job writing her character if she had slightly more screen time and the reveal was earlier.
Kayo Moon imo you’re delving in a little too deep for my liking, I mean it’s nice to have the diamond authority be structured alike, but it gets really mediocre and illogical considering pink is the youngest of them and that this is her first colony. Plus it wouldn’t add up for them to show “Rose” shatter “Pink” if she’d be “nice” and in which case, negotiable. What would the point of that be? To make Steven learn a lesson of necessity? Season 4 had been all about that if you haven’t noticed.
Pink/rose’s character progression was written backwards so if you want the character progression to make more sense put all of the pieces together in forward chronological order of the story
[Topic True Villain]: I would pose this question: What of White Diamond? The only time we've seen her take action was when the diamond authority essentially nuked everyone else during the gem war. I'm not saying Pink was right...but everything could have gone far worse. Just look at what the diamonds do to gems that don't 'fit the mold'...their shattered of course. War is a struggle, conflicting ideas, survival, advantage. Any of these reasons negate all arguments as to 'why' the war was necessary. [Topic Focus of the Story]: On a side note: Remember the original outro song talking about "I could even learn how to love", Perhaps this is a story about something that does not possess love (like a diamond) learning to do so. [Topic Diamond Mentality]: I feel Pink Diamonds tantrum is typical of any being raised to be a ruler. This requires more information however as I am not aware of how a diamond is made, nore the details of how they are raised. I will note though that neither yellow or blue have shown signs of true maturity. Yellow is constantly throwing her weight around brash and impulsive. Blue is pure despair, so dramatic it makes the people around her cry. They have so much power that they have no need for maturity or self restraint. Thus it is not Pink Diamonds fault that she starts off a brat, however I assume she is changed by Greg and her adventures with the gems, maturing into something better. But on this only time will tell.
Rose may not have done right by her friends or other gems, but where would life on Earth be if she hadn't rebelled against the other diamonds? At best, the planet would just have ended up hollowed out, another gem colony, resources tapped to create gem armies... I think perhaps some prices are worth paying!
Agreed. Although I'm still not happy Rose was revealed to be Pink Diamond. I think that takes away a lot from her character in that she was originally a regular footsoldier for her overlord until she rebelled out of a moral decision.
I still think she rebelled out of a moral standpoint as she clearly loved the Earth and humans, but sure, it takes some stuff away. It also adds so much more! It adds so much to Steven and his potential, I mean, being a human/gem hybrid was something unique, but how can he not affect Gem society now he's Pink Diamond? Letting herself grow up as Steven might have been the only way PD would have been able to get through to the other Diamonds regarding the life on the worlds they colonise, even if it wasn't her plan from the start. And to think we probably have Greg to thank for that!
Pink Diamond is not that selfish monster that everyone says she is she saved garnet pearl from the corruption light! If she hadn't care about them she wouldn't have saved them! She brought lion back to live because she cared about him! She saved humanity she left behind her position as a diamond to free the earth she had no choice! She tried to say that she loved earth but the diamonds didn't listen that's why she had to fight! Yeah she made a lot of mistakes but she didn't do that on purpose and as a diamond her other choice was to destroy the earth and shatter her defective gems! The other diamonds destroyed many planets and they shattered thousands of gems they don't care about anyone but you say pink is a monster!
Tho... If Pink diamond started the rebellion as a diamond. The other rebels would only follow her due to their sworn allegiance to their diamond or a diamond in general and Blue and Yellow diamonds' involvement in the crystal gem war would have become much more personal than just "THERE'S A REBEL ATTACKING PINK DIAMOND'S PLANET!" which is probs why Pink diamond only used a DIPLOMATIC approach when in diamond form... but still her second identity as ROSE QUARTZ arguably made more of a point. because it feels more impactful when you see people taking orders from a lowly quartz soldier as oppose to a diamond, which they are bound to obey by DESIGN
What if RoseDimond designed the human zoo as a initial attempt to make human gem hybrids (hugeman) by adding gem dust from shattered gems into their food for centuries. Then after her "death" had to think of a deferent way and the end result is Steven?
Regarding the point about the punishment of the entire Rose Quartz "species", it might be even worse. It was mentioned in the Zoo arc that Pink **designed** the Rose Quartz gems, meaning she **created an entire type of Gem specifically so she could impersonate and sacrifice them to get away from her own role in the Gem empire.** Granted, the whole faking her death thing could have been a later development after she'd created the gems and started the rebellion, but by the very nature of her disguise it's clear she specifically created the Rose Quartz gem type to be a lower caste gem she could disguise herself among--an entire gem type she created merely as a means to an end.
it's about decisions, like diamond everyone would be forced to fight in the rebellion, like a quartz they had the option to choose whether or not they wanted to join
I don’t think that PD thought that home world would leave them alone if she faked her death I think she did it so that she didn’t have to keep up with her duties as a diamond and then being the rebellions leader on the side she wanted to be the rebellions leader full time
She was going off what Blue said in the previous episode. “This is your colony, it will be completed as long as you are here.” She knew they would pull out if she was thought dead. She just didn’t expect them to retaliate in such a way.
5:35 Not really - Blue told her that as long as PD is present at all, the colony will complete so she removes PD from the picture. She chose to gamble on this as opposed to sitting there which she thought was sure demise of the planet
I agree with the video. Rebecca Sugar herself said Rose was a horrible person, just by what Pearl had to suffer because of her and even deciding to run away from everything or at least, deciding to be another being, that's twisted for me. I used to love her, but the truth is Rose was only lovely towards steven, she was profound about humans with him but every single memory of her was selfish at some point. That's not something good. Of course, there are people who will defend her, after all, we passed years loving her. Some people will deny the fact, other will remain silent until the end of the show, and others like you and me will be upset about her actions. The best course of action right now is to wait and see if Steven will remember more of Pink and Rose memories when she was alone and thinking. Edit: Also there's something no one is considering now: The real reason why rose bubbled Bismuth: She knew too much. She was the only gem who knew the sword "Rose" had coudn't shatter a gem. Pink probably didn't want gems to die that's true, but also she didn't want a flaw in her infalible plan. When Bismuth showed her the breaking point, that was the reason she needed to poof Bismuth and bubble her. If Bismuth was alive and somehow hear that Rose shattered Pink with her sword, she would say that's impossible. And that was something pink cound't let alone, so I really think the show will need to do a lot to make pink a "good" character now.
You'll say something totally reasonable and provably true, and then say, "therefore Rose gets a thrill out of putting Pearl in danger and secretly wants to kill all Pearls" or something almost completely out of the blue, not really following up from the previous thoughts. That's how it seemed to me. Like, her spur-of-the-moment decision to order Pearl not to speak of it =/= distrusting Pearl or any of the Crystal Gems to keep a secret without it. The show has not shied away from looking at the bad parts of Rose's identity, but being sometimes thoughtless and impulsive is not the same thing as being sadistic and willing to throw lives away for nothing. The beginning of this video even admits as much. And while it may be too early to say so, to assume that the selfish child Pink Diamond and the rebel leader of Rose Quartz she became later is the same in terms of sheer immaturity and selfishness, I don't think that's possible. A person who just wants things and doesn't care who she has to hurt in order to get it doesn't gel with what we've seen of how Rose acted during the war and ESPECIALLY afterwards (in her conversations with Greg and Garnet). Pink Diamond changed over the course of her reign, and while we as an audience (having seen the aftermath of those choices and how they affected others even hundreds of years later) know that many of the decisions she made weren't the right ones, Rose did listen to and value the feelings of others and her decisions were based on trying to save as many people and gems as possible. We have to take into account how Rose's motivations changed over the course of the conflict. Pearl herself admits that the desire to save the pretty and appealing life of Earth was what drove her at first, but meeting Garnet and many of the other gems that were eventually drawn into the Crystal Gems made her desire freedom for all gem-kind, and she demonstrated that multiple times in the snapshots of the war we've seen. Now, there is the important and dark detail that the fact of her being Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond was kept from all but Pearl. THAT is Rose's greatest sin, and the one that caused the most damage. That even her most trusted lieutenants and friends weren't let on to the fact that they were one and the same DID create a lot of strife. But even her decision to tell no one about her double life wasn't chosen out of sheer blindness to the gems around her. She made a decision that, in her mind, would save lives in the long run, and even with Garnet's future vision Rose couldn't have foreseen the destruction that would follow. She isn't vile or hateful, and she did have to un-learn a lot of behaviours that were instilled into her simply as a result of being royalty. But to say she's villainous simply because of bad decision-making isn't a reasonable analysis. It's a very black-and-white way of looking at things.
Though I agree that Pink hiding the truth from her closest friends, she couldn’t have started a rebellion without Rose Quartz. Pink Diamond going against the other diamonds would have appeared to a grasp for power, especially if her previous bratty behaviour had ever come to light, so whilst she might had her court on side she probably wouldn’t have had as much support. Rose Quartz, an earth born gem would fought back against an enemy who should have been more powerful would though; she’s the idea of every gem being more than their gem. I think all the diamonds are the antagonists here, even Pink to an extent.
That's how I see it, too. I was also reminded that Pink said Yellow and Blue didn't care about Earth because it was Pink's colony. Was that also a lie or was she telling the truth? Either way, it still doesn't look good for Rose Quartz. Also, how about the time Rose Quartz attacked Blue Diamond and her court? Are we supposed to forget about that? Of course Yellow Diamond would be furious, but how is Blue going to react? Even thousands of years later Blue Diamond is still torn up about Pink Diamond's death. God, what a clusterfuck of a predicament!
In the end, at least in my opinion, it boils down to the intentions. Yes, Rose made some horrible decisions and didn’t think everything through, but she did it all with good intentions. All she was trying to do was save Earth. And in a way, she did. She could’ve just kept colonizing but she refused. Even though Rebecca Sugar said there are no villains in the show, I like to think that the person to come closest to this status will be White Diamond.
One of the major problems with this argument is that it assumes that Rose felt self worth despite 4 seasons implying the opposite to be true to. All the arguments about weather or not Pink Diamond would have been better symbol for the rebellion are meaningless if Rose couldn't comprehend the possibility of others seeing her that way. If we where to view Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl in the same way that you are here, then we'd have to consider them true villains too as they're directly responsible for Steven developing the same emotional problems that his mother had on top of their general rotten behavior that has been well documented by people outside the fandom. A second major problem with this argument is that Rebecca Sugar already made a point to state that Rose's intentions where real.
Omg i have been waiting for a youtuber to articulate how I felt about this whole thing because a lot of people were defending her and even though I understood to an extent where they were coming from I still didnt agree with it and for so long no other youtuber has actually put what I was feeling into words, but you, everything you said is EXACTLY how ive been feeling since it happened and I am so glad somebody finally said it because I am so sick of Rose getting excused for her reckless, thoughtless and selfish actions that ended up hurting everyone BUT HERSELF because in the end she got to escape it all and leave her mess for somebody else to clean up because Rose has never had to take responsibility for her own actions or own up to them because just like the diamond she is she always had loyal followers willing to do and go along with anything she said, she preeched freedom but really her followers were anything but free as they were STILL following a diamond, she made all the orders, she made all the calls, she decided how things were done, and everyone just blindly followed her because they believed in her 'false' ideals, Rose took advantage of her followers naivite and manipulated them because SHE couldnt stand up to the diamonds and decided to make her gems do it for her Like yellow said 'THEN ACT LIKE IT' Rose never acted like a diamond, she demanded to be on their level but when it was time for her to act like it she behaved like a child being scolded by her parents and making excuses to try and make them leave instead of acting like the diamond she says she is and standing up to yellow and blue and assert her rightful authority as pink diamond with her earth colony and tell them straight up that shes not doing it, it's her colony and shes choosing to spare it regardless of what they say, maybe THEN she would have had some respect because she demanded it and stood up like a diamond, thats not to say yellow and blue wouldnt have been furious but atleast blue might have been a bit more understanding and willing to listen to pink which then maybe able to pull yellow in as well [as for white is up in the air] pink would finally have gained their respect as a diamond, shes not acting like a child asking yellow and blue to help or making childish excuses but is standing up to them and doing what SHE wants with HER colony But as we all know it didn't play out that way and she chose the selfish, cowardly and childish route then to stand up for herself and take responsibility for her own actions, but just run away and leave it for what few remaining followers she had left and her child to handle
This is a great video. Rebecca stated that the show is about loving yourself; here it shows that pink diamond was having difficulties with that; hence lie after lie.
Also, it didn't help her cause that she can heal (so far it we've been shown that she's the only one that can heal in the battlefield apart from her fountain). She probably figured, oh they are fine since I can heal their cracks, and that's "alright" since nobody else told her otherwise.
The worse part is that they unconditionally followed her and I think deep down it's because she was pink diamond. She literally made every gem on earth.
If Rose hasn't given Pearl the silence directive as Pink, Pearl would definitely have spilled the beans a long time ago. We saw how many times she had to restrain herself in this series. If she had told the Crystal Gems would they still follow Rose? If the Diamonds had found out who knows what the penalty would have been for a diamond turning on its own?
Ultimately, Rose was a Diamond. And all her flaws and bad attitudes can be traced back to this. When you compare her to the other Diamonds you see they're all cut from the same cloth. They consider themselves infallible, disrespect their subjects, and ultimately consider the shattering of their subjects an acceptable loss.
i thing this is also wear stevens "Not telling others information,and doing whatever he wants" Part of his personality comes from. Its a Flaw from Pink,he will never get rid of
Pink Diamond was like an immature child who was scolded a little too much. She only saw the times she was yelled at, the times she was told she messed up, the times she was called a failure, the times she was told she was too weak. In her eyes, she legitimately thought the other diamonds only saw her as a nuisance. While this is obviously wrong to us the viewers, that's the point. Pink was immature, Pink was foolish, and Pink probably didn't even realize that the diamonds attacked Earth because they were tryig to get revenge for her, but rather that the diamonds simply hate the status quo being disrupted. Pink never considered Blue or Yellow, because in her eyes Blue and Yellow were monsters who hated her. It's only now that Steven can see the truth because he actually has empathy.
I'm glad she didn't start the rebellion as diamond. Remember pink diamond just started a colony so she wouldn't have enough soldiers to fight homeworld. so she did right, what I hate is they should introduced another rose quartz with a different actress voice. that would have made more sense for the big reveal.
She is laterally a diamond and that's kinda how the diamonds were. Yellow diamond even said she didn't want to hear the thoughts of a peuny little peridot. So while Rose/Pink led the rebellion she was probably still trying to be a better leader by still following what yellow or blue would say.
I think the important message in Steven Universe is that there isn't really evil people. It's their actions that make them evil. Look at Peridot, she was coined evil but once you understood where she came from, she no longer was deemed evil. The same will hold true for Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz. We think her taking the persona of Rose Quartz was for selfish reasons but we still don't know her real reasons. There is still a LOT we don't know about Pink Diamond and what was shown to us was to lure us to believe she might be a bad person. I think SU showed us we need to stay nuanced because people are complex and so was Pink Diamond.
I agree with your arguments that PD/Rose’s actions can be perceived as selfish , but the conclusion that this makes her the TRUE villain of the show seems like a leap that you didn’t elaborate enough on. That said, I felt you organized your thoughts on the flaws of her choices well, I couldn’t of explained it any better.
I think rose took the form of a rose quartz because a lowly quartz soldier uprising against the diamonds is more impactful to others than a diamond because they wouldn't exactly be free because they would still be following a diamond
I think Rose/Pink is a sage warning to all of us about thinking our causes are the nobel causes. I am not sure there are any real villains in this show, it's more like a character study of villains and heroes and dissecting the fine line between them. I will say I still love Rose/Pink as a beautifully written complex character. I just love her for that reason. I don't like her as a person, because yes, everything you said is correct. She comes from a very selfish background and that takes years of making mistakes to change. This is why you don't give planets to children. But I can't help but think there is still more going on here. I can't help but think back on the Can't Go Back episode with the Shadow Pearl pulling the sword and can't help but wonder if that was a memory of an assassination attempt by a disguised Sneople acting on White Diamond's orders to shatter Pink for real, and part of the reason she staged her own shattering was to hide.
Imagine being a Rose Quartz and just doing your job serving your Diamond and suddenly you’re told you need to be imprisoned because ONE of the hundreds of other Rose’s decided to rebel against your Lord. Also you can’t tell me not ONE Rose Quartz was in the rebellion with Pink. There had to be a point in time before the Rose’s were bubbled where at least a few joined? Also was Pink forced bubble all her own Gems? They were in pink bubbles.
I think everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I do think it really ironic and annoying that Steven Universe fans are immediately trying to erase the concept of moral ambiguity in a show focused so heavily on flawed characters on all sides of a war, and in which some of the favorite characters that fans love to paint over the mistakes of are other morally ambiguous characters or outright antagonists. From all indications we've gotten so far, Rose genuinely thought what she was doing was best for everyone. Does it make her a good person? Depends on how you measure morality (intentions vs. effects). Does it make her a villain? Not that I see. An incredibly flawed person, whom Steven needed to learn about in order to finally overcome the feeling of being in her shadow, yes. But not a villain. Please realize that we just got this revelation, and have no idea what the Crewniverse will do with it going forwards. This damning of a character or a show's decision before either of those things is rrally exploted is really getting on my nerves.
Something else worth mentioning: whether it was part of her original intention or not, Homeworld does not have a place for the unusual, the unexpected, the "ugly" or "broken". And as a result of Rose's rebellion, those gems now have a place that they can find validation and freedom. Rose didn't create the circumstances for such "off-colours", because even without any real influence (short of campfire-style horror stories) we find that undesired gems do exist on Homeworld regardless.
The secret itself didn’t fuck up their lives. Homeworld did that. Whether they fought for Rose, or fought for Pink, what they wanted to fight for was freedom to choose and be themselves. The secret doesn’t change that. Moreover, the idea that everything would have worked out if Pink had rebelled as a Diamond, is an assumption. It is an unknown outcome that didn’t happen. It’s also likely that Pink rebelling openly would have led to complete failure, including Earth being colonized by another Diamond. But we can never know What would have happened.
While canon is somewhat ambiguous, it's probable that Garnet first formed after Pink was shattered, which is why Blue Diamond was directing the trap for Rose Quartz.
About the quartzes in the zoo; note the color of the bubbles. They're all pink, every single one of them. If blue or yellow had bubbled those gems, the color of the bubbled would be indicative as such. Pink diamond must have bubbled those rose quartzes herself, and I believe it was to make it easier for herself to hide in her lie. If she was running around with all these ridiculous powers and while every single other rose quartz was a equipped with nothing but completely average quartz abilities, somebody would have started getting suspicious REAL quick.
COMPLETELY AGREED Don't forget about the human Zoo, and Lapis traumatize being stuck in the mirror, she could have done something about that. Oh yeah and bismuth.
Re-watching this and actually commenting on it, You're right. PD had a lot of trauma and her becoming rose quartz didn't help. And seeing all the people here saying you're just hating is odd. they don't understand that just because Rose had good intentions doesn't make her any less bad. If your intentions are good but your actions show the opposite of that then they don't matter. Any one can say they have good intentions, they need to show it physically. Also seeing most trying to cradle her like she's a baby because she has trauma is disgusting. Trauma explains not excuses, She still has so much fault in this.
Pink was the youngest of the diamonds. I think wanting to have her own colony was because she wanted to be like her siblings. Some of her actions were because she was afraid of what the other diamonds would do and didn't know how to stop their attempt to colonize Earth. The other diamonds were a bit like Pink's guardians. As Steven found out in the finale, they often locked her in a tower for every punishment and Blue forced her to feel immense sadness with her powers. Blue's powers were based on emotional manipulation. Steven figured out about the abuse Pink went through because the dream he had of her memory of being locked in the tower was almost identical to when Blue entered after Steven woke up. Steven only knew that what they did with Pink was wrong because, unlike her, he knew what it was like to have a loving family. The diamonds poofed the other gems just for standing up for Steven. I suspect Pink's abuse of her old Pearl might have been the results of both psychological issues and bad role modeling. Pink's sisters often did the same to other gems and even her. I think it was only after seeing White Diamond taking that Pearl's free will that she could actually see how bad she had been to her.
I think she found Garnet after she staged her shattering and turned into Rose forever. So that would explain why she didn't consult in Garnet before she staged her shattering. But this is just what I think.
If Pink Diamond is a child then can you really consider her to be evil or perhaps she's just immature instead? Being immature is just that being immature...it doesn't make you evil. When you're immature you make mistakes and that's what Pink Diamond did.
Daniel Blair i think she did mistakes and tried to fic them but it only got worse and worse. And yes I view it as she did ask for help from Blue and Yellow but they only disregarded it as complaints and didn’t take her seriously, just as many children is treated.
Pink never asked for help. She made excuses of why she couldn't do certain things. Did you even watch episode Linnzy because they brought up what excuses she made. That's not asking for help
@ BooshButters A mistake isn't evil, doing something intentionally is evil. A mistake isn't done intentionally, so therefore it isn't evil no matter what the outcome of that mistake might've been.
One thing I’m still thinking is why didn’t Pearl try to tell the others once Steven was born? I mean surely telling them then would have been important.
Now we know why pearl was so upset that rose had a lion. and when garnet said: " rose kept many secrets"
pearl: " But not from ME!"
I first thought that pearl was just salty but now the impact hits tenfold.
Holy shit! Your right! Especially since she knew the biggest secret of all!
And yet I wonder why she STILL has feelings for someone who abandoned her, and also kept secrets from her
That's why I hate that Greg never reacted to marrying a Diamond and lying to him about the potential danger that Steven would go through. I can't even watch Mr Greg now, Rose doesn't deserve it.
it makes pearl a lot more creepy to me.
itsme mario master slave relationship
Yeah no
i feel bad for steven like he keeps saying."i don't even know why I am paying for HER mistakes
Yeah poor Steven
yeah…
That's true and it's one of my biggest problems with her she abandoned everyone for her own needs, she had steven and didn't even give him a heads up no advice what so ever and start a war with a fake icon and caused thousands of deaths gems and humans (Greg says when jasper first arrives) she should've stayed as pink diamond
Yeah Steven doesn’t deserve this
If it wasn't for her "mistake" Steven , his father, and every other human who was born in the past 5-6000 years wouldn't be around to ponder this.
2:03 Pearl: "Haha, she even started a 1,000 year war and lied to her closest friends that eventually died"
Greg: What?...
Greg: 'Gee, and I was under impression that she was selfish when she borrow my best shirt without asking and drop some mustard on it while eating hot dogs.'
Pearl: 'Oh, you have no idea what she is capable to do without asking anybodys opinion first.'
bismuth agrees
Christian Craig
I just wish that Steven can just "Chrystalize Rose Quartz"
It's just like Butterfly family Chrystalized Eclipsa in "Star vs The Forces of Evil", just like what Queen Moon did to Eclipsa, also Steven and his fellow Gem can use her Power to their own Good....
no WONDER why pearl was so emotionally pained, i take everything back about pearl. i felt that way too at age 11
People always forget to count that Rose flashbacks are also Pink Diamond. If you take both of them together, you can see how she is. I think she is a child, but became more mature aka Rose.
Adrian SH gems can't grow or change - the moment she became more mature (or got the potential for that) is when she became steven. All charakter changes we saw in gems where influenced by steven, therefore pink D.'s power to alter a gems character program
Tiefsee - That's debatable. You're right based on what was technically said in the show, but while gems don't change their whole personality, they do learn and mature based on what we've seen. Ruby and Sapphire, for instance, learn a greater understanding of each other. Pearl learns things a Pearl normally wouldn't. Pink eventually learned to respect humans by meeting Greg.
CSolarstorm fusions are known to behave outside of their normal programming (like aquamarine staited) diamomds aren't like any other gem and pearl, her programming is sltered by permanent expurse to a diamond that can't control it's powers
CSolarstorm the ofcolours with lars are the best test subject to see if gems change without diamond intwraction (except the fusions)
Gems clearly do grow and change through the show though. The idea that a gem is what it is and never changes is shown to be a lie of Homeworld multiple times. Its why Peridot goes from being a cold and calculating person who is willing to write things off as pointless to someone who sees value in a lot of things. It is why Jasper became bitter and insane. It is why Lapis became traumatized and closed off. Amethyst changes to be more mature from the Greg Flashbacks to present day, and develops a self image complex to boot.
Ruby and Saphire also change as gems, and not just as a fusion. Our Ruby shows more personal initiative and intelligence, and our Sapphire is less detached than she was at first. Rubies didn't seem to be an affectionate sap but grew to love someone else and that changed her.
Hell, Pearl literally in these clips changes as a person, to say that gems can't grow or change when Pearl explicitly changed as a result of the events she went through is a bit silly, even if you assume this Pearl was already a fearsome warrior with a flair for grace and precision when created, which is unlikely.
Joe Johnston said that Pearl was forced to follow Pink's orders, because she was "programed" that way. She literally couldn't speak about Rose's identity. Quite creepy.
By the way, yes, it only applies to Pearl.
She was programmed to follow orders, but she still had a mind of her own. Like all gems, she doesn’t have to be satisfied with her purpose, and she can disagree. It’s improtant to remember that Pink Rose ASKED Pearl to join her, even spelled out the consequences, in Rose’s Scabbard. And Pearl chose to join her. In this last episode, Pink Rose argued her plan to Pearl, did not order her to carry it out. Pearl’s motivations were her own. And after Pink reformed as Rose permanently, she was free.
This a bold face lie. He clearly states that she followed that command because of her 'programing' and that it was something she was proud of for the longest time.
Yeah pearl was so free that an order they were given hundreds or was it thousands of years ago, they couldn't break away from. Ask and Order are too different things. If Pink ordered pearl to do it. Pearl would have had no choice but to obey. Oh wait Pink ordered Pearl to never speak about this and Pearl never did. Even when pearl wanted to and tried to force themselves to speak about it. Pearl couldn't. Gems can do what they like but if there god orders them to do something or be a certain way. They have no choice but to obey. Gem's are programmed that way. So it's absolute. It doesn't matter if they have a mind of their own. There free will is an illusion when order by there diamonds. But I think it can be counter. Pink order pearl to not talk about it. The order said nothing about showing. So the orders have loopholes in a sense(well depending on the order anyways)
Seeing peridot challenging her own diamond makes me figure.
The gems only obey when they trust their diamonds intentions or actions.
So pearl trusted Rose all this time and that's why she didn't disobey.
This is only true if you’re talking strictly about the order to not speak. Yes, Joe DID say that command left her physically unable to do anything but obey it. (Though he also said it was a secret she was very proud of keeping for a long time, so it’s same to assume she probably wouldn’t have said anything regardless of physical limitations up until Steven was in the picture)
BUT. He also said Pink Diamond approached Pearl as a friend in deciding on the faked shattering. According to him, that was something they both agreed on. You could argue that Pearl’s decision would be obvious because Pink was the one approaching her, but she still was given a choice in whether or not to go along with Pink’s plan.
Pearls were made to follow all their master's commands. That's why Pearl was silenced by Rose. She wouldn't haven't been able to silence other gems. Also, PD had to become Rose because of the message that "We're all equal! If I, a common gem, can revolt and win, then you can too!" This wouldn't exactly work out if she led the revolt as Pink. People would dismiss her because of the difference between their powers and position. But still, the way Rose/Pink handled it was very immature and childish.
I disagree to a degree because the idea of a Diamond rebelling would’ve had a HUGE impact. She’s at the top of the hierarchy so if she of all gems says “No this is wrong I won’t let you do this” many gems would follow that Diamond. However Pink wanted to be like other gems, unburdened by her status and able to freely converse amongst them (because as a Rose Quartz she was no longer the most ‘valuable’ amongst them, Rose Quartz are on the same level as Amethyst and she’s outranked by Sapphire) she wanted her Anonymity so she fought as Rose Quartz. She literally created a whole new person for her to become
@@Alex2468ful The last bit of that comment isn't a point against anyone.
So rose cursed pearl (Not out of character though)
@@Alex2468ful not exactly other gems would feel they're still the same since they following a diamond
If Steven is pink diamond can he un-do pearls seal?
Diurty DanTV or shouldn't it have worked when he told pearl to tell him the truth
I’d like to think that, by him going into the gem and learning the truth, the seal is already broken. The point was for nobody to find out. With the secret finally exposed, she might be able to talk about it.
No, the point was to never speak about it. which is why pink covered pearl's mouth with there own hands but The order said nothing about showing. So no, I don't think the seal was lifted. Pearl just found a loophole in pink diamond's order
Maybe he has to give the order as a diamond.
It wasn't a seal it was a promise
Whats funny is that when you look at everything Rose/Pink Diamond has done the biggest thing to take from it is that no matter how you view her she is the reason this show even happens >D
Which actually underlines her role as the show's main antagonist even more. In classical storytelling, the one who always sets a plot in motion? Either a situation to overcome or a villain. Examples: The only reason why we have Batman? Because a bad guy shot his parents in an alley. The only reason we have Star Wars? Because there is an evil guy in a bathrobe and his asthmatic sidekick who want to blow planets up and some people are not okay with that. As umb as it sounds, remove Rose from the equation and most peoples and gems life would most likely be for the better.
True
yeah its like rose im gonna give birth to my child and i won,t be in this world so im gonna make them deal with all my problems
@LaNiya Robinson Yeah... no. Fucking Hitler could say sorry, would not revert the Holocaust or something.
Actually, the reason the show happens is because of Blue, Yellow, and White. When Pink said she wanted to stop the invasion and preserve life on earth, what did the other diamonds do? They straight up ignored her. If they had just listened to her wishes, there would be no show, no cluster, no Steven, and no fucking issues. It's like everyone looks at the 3 living diamonds and says "oh they didn't abuse their baby sister mentally and emotionally, they were just playing with her."
The rose quarts weren't put into extinction. They're all still alive. It would better to say Rose's actions led to a whole type of gem to be discriminated against and locked away in a prison forever.
Yellow certainly wants them dead. It's only a matter of time, they're on death row.
ArsArma I really don't think the show is going to have the rose quarts killed off. Seems too dark for Steven Universe.
Extinction means the eradication of a species and its progeny. If a gem is inactive by being poofed, they could be considered dead enough to count, and if no more gems of that type were to be made, that would count as progeny being gone as well. Meaning, yes they would be.
The thing that concerns me the most is that the bubbles are *pink.* So who did the deed of bubbling them?
uploader109 I think it's the lighting, everything in the room looks pink. They could be white bubbles
The bubbles are pink... So did PD bubble the Rose Quartz, in YD and BD's precense?
"All they try to do is make up for it but they just can't forgive themselves." -Greg
Ayelis Greg's words probably represent Rose's feelings only. Garnet's components weren't involved in planning the colony, Pearl had no influence, and Amethyst emerged after the rebellion.
@@baraxor actually she emerged during the war but she was over cooked
@@marinasplanet255 Apparently (from her words to Steven in On The Run) Amethyst emerged alone, and the Crystal Gems were the first entities she'd encountered after who-knows how long after emergence. In any case, she never witnessed the war, as was indicated by the opening scene in Rose's Scabbard.
@@baraxor ik
According to the timeline published in the last SU art book, Amethyst emerged 500 years before she was finally found by Rose, Pearl and Garnet. While the timeline states that she emerged 5000 years ago, Amethyst had to have done this after the war, because she would have been corrupted had she emerged before the nuke at the end of the war.
I, for one, don't think that Pink took the identity of a rose quartz and start a rebellion with it so that the diamonds would let her evacuate. I think, that the purpose of starting the rebellion under a mask, is to get the lower class gems to follow the idea of freedom instead of the orders of a diamond. If she ordered the gems under her court to fight against homeworld, how would she be different than the rest of the diamonds? I think, this way, she introduced them to the idea of freedom, and allowed them to make their own choice.
In Now We're Only Falling Apart, Pearl related how when the Diamonds refused to halt the destruction of Earth, PD would become someone whom the other Diamonds couldn't ignore, i.e. Rose Quartz, the seemingly unstoppable rebel Gem guerrilla, intending to frighten all Homeworld Gems off Earth. Social change for Gems apparently didn't figure in her decision; and it was only her encounter with Garnet that might have added that element to the rebellion, which probably the actual key to the Crystal Gems' eventual success.
Certainly, IMO, while Pink seemingly was the only Diamond (and one of the few Gems in general) who had a sense of compassion and justice, she would never have compromised the survival of Earth in favor of a more enlightened Gem society. I don't doubt that she was sincere in her personal beliefs and wishes for a more just Gem society, but that wasn't going to come at the cost of Earth's biosphere.
Rose only lied because the rebellion couldn't have started with a diamond no one would follow her they'd just think it's stupid to want to get out of such a high rank. She became rose quartz to inspire gems to be themselves just as she realized she had wanted all along. If she didn't want to help gems and the earth she could have shape shifted and ran off and hid long ago but she devised plans to save not only the earth but all the gems that joined her. She didn't fight just for her own selfish reasons she truly changed and wanted to protect those around her and the sad truth is she had to lie and hurt a lot of people to do so
I thought Pearl's covering her mouth was more of a psychological reaction, rather than Rose forcing her to do it, and I saw Rose's "last order as a Diamond" as more of a request.
No, you can visibly see Pearl trying to force her hand off her mouth but she was physically unable due to PD's order.
@@FeralFaceBitingClownBoiwhen? 💀
@@Ash-zz1nc when Steven come out of her gem and she is physically trying to yank her own hand away from her mouth but it slaps back onto it.
You forgot one of the most selfish things. When Steven asked "Rose" : "Did you just make me so you can run away from your mistakes?!" ...hes kinda right. Why would Rose even go along with having a child knowing Homeworld would eventually return ? She didn't care, she wanted a baby.
But she didn't know they would come back?
why would anyone even agree to have a baby if they knew that that would kill them
If Homeworld hadn't returned in the 5000 years prior to Steven's birth, what was there to indicate that they would return in the next 5000 years? (Indeed, when Homeworld did come back it wasn't to re-conquer Earth, but to monitor progress on the final stages of The Cluster.)
@@aguardianangel981 Well, she wanted to kill off being a Diamond so, why not further run away when things don't go the way you want.
I doubt she knew homeworld was gonna come back. I think I remember Pearl saying this in one of the episodes
At first I always assumed that Rose treated Greg like that (when he tried to fuse with her) is because at that point she didn't understand human empathy yet. They are 2 different species and function differently. But then I thought about how it was stated Rose has been with other humans before Greg. How come she didn't understand human emotions then? She had experience with humans, right? Maybe Greg was the first one that challenged her, as you stated. The first human, heck, species, that confronted her and made her think about things.
"You know Rose, she always did what she wanted." Yeah, because no one tells a Diamond what they can or cannot do. Why do you think Pink Diamond got so angry when Yellow told her not to touch the hologram panel? I get that she wanted to be treated as equal, but she got so upset over it she punched a mirror! She also demanded Yellow that she wanted her own planet and army acting like a little tyrant.
You know how Rose told Greg that all gems are born already knowing what their purpose is? Like how pearls are made to be loyal servants. Pearl likes to say she's independent yet has an odd fascination/obsession towards Rose. What if that saying also applies to Diamonds? Pink does seem to care about those close to her but sometimes has her own needs placed before others. Like how she wanted to stay on Earth just because she liked it and easily forgot about Blue and Yellow and how they would react to her "death". Remember that Blue Diamond stated that her and Pink were very close yet Pink still decided to go along with her plan.
I don't hate Pink Diamond btw, guys! But this is just my observation. idk :-/
The true villains were the ones who escalated the war to shattering. The true villains were the ones who gathered up the remains of their dead and stitched them together into undead monstrosities. The true villains caused corruption on the survivors. Who bubbled an entire cut of gem by association.
You say, “she did not care”, but everything started because she did care. She was a brat who demanded a colony of her own. But once she got one, she looked around at what she was doing, and changed. She saw beauty in life, and didn’t want to destroy it. Which, in case forgotten was her purpose as a Diamond. To expand their race through the destruction of everything else.
And, we saw that she did try to abandon the colony as a Diamond. She went to the others and said she wanted to quit because of the organic life. And again because she didn’t want to dismantle human settlements. And the other Diamonds called these excuses, and told her to act like a Diamond. She stood up, and they marginalized her feelings, telling her to get back to what she was supposed to do.
Then she created the rebellion, and yes, this was a foolish, impulsive mistake. But one she probably thought she had control of. The plan was to create an excuse to abandon the colony, one more serious than “I don’t want to kill the flowers.” And at the start of the war, it was just Pinks Forces, and Roses rebels. Think about how that era of the war was carried out. Think about the fun loving Famithysts, who disobeyed their superiors to help the Crystal Gems escape the Zoo. Do you think they were shattering?
There’s also the matter of, did she genuinely want gems to have the freedom to choose? I think she was genuine in that part. The question is, would that have worked if she did it as a Diamond? I don’t think so, but I’ll talk about that below.
But again, Blue and Yellow refused to let her quit, and they got involved themselves. Pink even tried to scare Blue off with an attack on her. But she lost control of the situation. And yes, she is partially to blame. But she is not the one who escalated the war and committed atrocities in the name of victory. She was running out of options.
And again, she made annother impulsive mistake. She heard Blue’s words, and thought she finally had an out. There would be no colony without her. And consider that for a moment. The plan up to that point was to leave Earth in disgrace, a failure as a Diamond. She was willing to sacrifice her status as an equal, to save humanity and free the Crystal Gems. The faked death was the last resort. But her mistake was in her perception of Blue and Yellow. “They never cared.” Every instance we’ve seen of them interacting, was of them talking down to her, silencing her, marginalizing her. We know, thanks to hindsight, that they cared very deeply. But how they act now, is not how they acted then. Just like Pink growing from that bratty tantrum, to someone who wanted to disgrace herself to save Earth, Blue and Yellow used to be cold and ruthless.
Now, the disagreement of what Pink could have done differently, comes down to trying to predict an unknown outcome from something that didn’t happen. Which is impossible. A lot of people keep saying she should have been more assertive, or led the rebellion as a Diamond. But would that have lead to the other Diamonds respecting her and allowing her to do what she wanted with Earth? Or would they have seen her as defective and crushed her, leading to a different colored flag being planted on humanity’s corpses? I lean towards the latter, but I can’t know for sure. I think she did the best she could with few options, and while she succeeded in saving humanity, she failed to stop or anticipate the worst of the other Diamond’s malice and cruelty.
A final aside, I’d like to point out that we only ever saw Pink give Pearl one Order. In Rose’s Scabbard and this last episode, she Asked Pearl to join her. And I don’t think Pearl was the one who got the worst of the deal. She lived with the woman she love for 4 thousand years. She was free to expand herself to be a warrior and an engineer. And she chose that life.
I don’t think she thought she could lead a rebellion as a DIAMOND. She could’ve felt trapped. Not thinking the odds would be good in her favor considering..three diamonds against 1..
She was LOCKED UP by the other diamonds. So she was kinda silenced to now after all the other episodes. So she could’ve not known any better, thinking that silencing people like pearl was okay. White seemed very abusive too. Blue and yellow didn’t listen. So she could’ve been silenced so many times.
I wouldn’t exactly say selfish, because when you have the life like what she did on home world. I wouldn’t be surprised on why she acts the way she did. I think white diamond is the new villain yes yes even after well..Change your mind. She truly was the hiding villain. I guess? Not sure.
There is a difference between being a child and actually having mental retardation. Pink Diamond was retarded. She was supposed to be an adult. But no. She came out defective. Off-color. Unworthy of existence. She should have been shattered just for existing.
For everyone getting upset about Rose being called a villain: *There is no true villain in Steven Universe.* Rebecca Sugar said it herself. However, if we were to pick out one character in here who caused the most harm, destruction, and chaos it would be Rose. Whether she meant to or not, she hurt a lot of people. She is the closest thing to a villain this show could have.
I still disagree with that on the basis of having the Diamonds. Despite what Rose did, the Diamonds commit mass genocide on organic life across the universe and destroyed multiple planets. If it weren't for Rose, Earth would've been next on the chopping block. Frankly, Yellow and Blue come off as much more "villainous" then Pink.
Lucas Martinez
Agreed. While I think Rose/Pink made some big mistakes, she eventually fought against the colonization of Earth which would have completely wiped out all life on it as they would have had little chance of fighting back and winning on their own. Meanwhile, the remaining diamonds retaliated. If Pink didn't start the rebellion I would imagine the other diamonds would have taken Earth for their own and made sure it was mined until it was destroyed. Then they would have just moved along to the next life-sustaining planet to do the same thing. I really don't think Pink would have had a lot of options for stopping them.
Yeah I agree, but since Gems more of less have a set programing its hard for me to argue that what rose did was entirely wrong as she has no empathy, which is stated by Rebecca Sugar. In a nutshell she is a child, who saw humans as entertainment and gems as tools and didnt really know better until the later half of her life learning how to mature by being with greg.
now if you consider diamonds and then said there are no villains in the story that says allot about the person saying such a thing.
Bullshit. No true villain in Steven Universe? How about the race of aliens that destroy entire planets so that they can grow like viri in the soil of a planet and make if uninhabitable? Or when Ronaldo was willing to kill Lars? No one in Steven Universe may be a mustache twirling evil guy who laughs all the time in how they bring misery to everyone, but Rose/Pink, Yellow Diamond and other characters genuinely act out of one certain anti virtue: Selfishness. A character attribute genuinely associated with evil. Rose is a villain and the fact that Rebecca Sugar can not admit her own shortcomings as a writer when it comes to creating ambiguous characters is one reason why Steven Universe is this mess of a show it truly is.
The saddest thing was that she left spinel there in the garden for 6000 years it made me cry so much
@Sarvesh Sundaram I respectfully disagree. Pink Diamond may have changed her appearance when she became Rose Quartz, but her personality didn't really change all that much. The disrespect Rose showed Greg in the episode "we need to talk" is proof that in all the millennia since the end of the gem war Pink Diamond's mentality hasn't really changed.
@Sarvesh Sundaram no. Remember Pearl confirmed that Pink Diamond as Rose Quartz has had relationships with humans before Greg on her own whims. This shows that Pink Diamond may have liked humans but she didn't respect them due to her diamond mentality.
@Sarvesh Sundaram we are talking about Pink Diamond not the other crystal gems, and even then Garnet and Amethyst had more respect for humans than Pink Diamond did. Pearl was indifferent to humans, especially those who were in a relationship with Pink Diamond. Pink Diamond only had a serious relationship with Greg after he called her out on being disrespectful to him.
@Sarvesh Sundaram first of all, I still think that pearl was more indifferent to humans than rude due to her feelings for Pink Diamond. Secondly, Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz can't be considered different people because their personalities aren't that different. In fact, Pink Diamond barely changed after becoming Rose Quartz. Pearl and Greg even stated that Pink Diamond aka Rose Quartz always did what she wanted. The only selfless things she did was try to save the earth and try to fight for other gems who didn't fit in to homeworld's standards. Pink still forced heavy burden on Pearl, had a hand in most gems on earth being corrupted, Spinel being left alone in the garden, and disappearing without resolving the problems she left behind. Pink Diamond may not have been evil, but considering all the terrible things she did, she can't be considered a different person let alone a better person.
@Sarvesh Sundaram if you feel that Pink Diamond became a better person, that's fine. I however cannot consider her a better person due to her actions, her choices, the consequences for those choices, and the fact that we don't see any signs of regret for her actions. Even the remaining diamonds, who have done worse things than Pink Diamond did, have shown regret for their actions, especially towards Pink Diamond and Steven. The diamonds have even been shown to a least try to make up for their past mistakes. The most we've seen of Pink Diamond making up for her mistakes was something we didn't even see her do: trying to heal the corrupted gems. Aside from that, we don't even see Pink Diamond making up for Spinel, when she clearly had a ship to return to the garden. Not to mention, she disappeared leaving things with homeworld unresolved, and on what can be perceived as a whim by deciding to have a child. I feel that like the other diamonds, Pink Diamond hasn't done enough good to balance out the bad, but unlike the other diamonds, Pink Diamond hasn't shown that she's trying to make up for past mistakes.
People have always kept claiming that Rose is the "true villain" before this reveal, because she bubbled Bismuth and shattered Pink Diamond. Yet they seem to forget that Rose in doing so saved humanity from being wiped out by the gems to create another colony. She inspired gems to rise up and escape slavery to the Diamonds whims. She was a hero, the Diamonds truly were evil considering they've wiped out countless other worlds to create colonies all across space. So beforehand I wouldn't have minded if she did shatter Pink Diamond because of that. People are playing up the Diamonds and the Homeworld loyalists as "heroes" despite all evidence we've seen previously of them being monsters who care nothing for innocent lives. Rose, despite her flaws fought to save lives, not to take them. Now though, the reveal that she was Pink Diamond all along kind of ruins that. Rose being a lower class gem that rose up to fight for something greater was much more inspiring, this does make Pink/Rose seem like an irresponsible moron. As well as makes little sense when you think about in how Pink was able to pull this off.
humans don’t even care about controlling animal species so why should it matter if the diamonds wiped people out..
But why lie about being a rose quartz she would've had more of an advantage as pink diamond it also would've shown blue and yellow pink means business also leaving her problems for steven without any advice or help what so ever
@@alissaoldham7128 Because if the other Diamonds knew it was Pink leading the Rebellion, they would have just come themselves to take Pink back to Homeworld as punishment. As long as they think Rose is someone else, they entrust Pink to handle the Rebellion on Earth and so don't directly interfere. She had no choice with leaving it for Steven, as having Steven meant she was doomed to cease existing. Also, she had been trying for over a thousand years to put things right, but couldn't. She felt Steven could succeed where she failed.
When analyzing Pink diamond's case I take into account a discussion our high school literature teacher had with us about the bible "I believe Jesus shouldn't have been perceived as half-god half-human but entirely human despite his birth process. If long ago the most popular interpretation was that he was human, people wouldn't think he's capable of spreading so much love and good just because he's partially a god. That would have made him seem like a better example for all of us and acting like him would have seemed like a much more achievable goal". I hope Steven universe ends up stating this was Rose quartz's main intention - to make the smaller gems, the non-diamonds, feel powerful enough to overthrow the entire system. If the rebellion happened with Pink diamond in the lead, the other gems would just feel as if they're following orders once again.
but it’s less achievable because he IS part god. it would be a lie.
it’s worst because now Steven has to deal with the aftermath, without any of roses memories.
and spinel. poor baby spinel.
Steven to Mom: “Did u made me just cuz u want me to do your dirty work?!”
The only argument I have about Garnets future vision is that she has to get to know the gems/people in relation to the vision. But, if Rose had told Garnet about her being Pink, then Garnet could have foresaw the corruption light/blast.
She isn't a villain, she's just misguided, she was put upon by the other diamond how to act and their expectations of her, so when she began to think for herself, she was still young and didn't have anyone to guide her, rather she had to figure it all out herself.
In stevens case, he had his dad, the gems, the friends he made, and he grew up because of them. Pink never had that, she had to learn things, and she made mistakes, but still grew into a better person then she was.
This was a great video! ♡
After the episode, I felt so bad for Pearl. And Pearl has become one of my top 3 favorite characters in the show.
I know, pearl loved her so much, was IN love with her, did so much for her..
Rose was one of the Diamonds. She was one of the monsters.
Okay. For anyone who hates on this video, Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and although I don’t fully agree with this particular theory, I still admire it for all the hard work you put into making this theory and I respect your opinion and understand why you feel like this is the case. I’m not going to try and debunk it or hate on you for having a different opinion and coming up with this theory. I still enjoyed this and I think this could potentially be the case. This was a lovely theory and I’m glad you made this.
But its a total lie. Rebecca Sugar has recently even made a comment on this subject about Rose being motivated by guilt.
Ether101 Prime
Yes, because an opinion is a lie
and people can have an opinion of an opinion, even more if it's out there, like someone can think something is horrible, and some people can dislike it
I can understand your point - however, regardless of how someone feels about a theory, or how much work is put into a theory, the best way that you can show your respect to a theory crafter is to push and prod and point out the flaws and gaps within the theory so that the creator can hone their craft and so that the conversation can continue to build as individuals learn more about the characters and world.
Luna Snyder, i can summarize that, if you express hatred in your opinions, dont expect everyone to agree with you, and you can hear the anger and hatred in her voice, that i cannot respect, i already left a comment directed to her, if she reads it fine if she doent fine, at least i expressed my own opinion.
SliceofOtaku did do a video about what would've happened if Garnet knew about Rose's secret, then she could've seen the possible outcome of the corruption light.
Ultimately the choices Rose/PD did (even if the intentions were good), MANY HUMANS AND GEMS WE'RE DESTROYED and are feeling the effects of it to this day.
Yet a world lives thriving with life and a future rather than a dry husk
Here's a thing to think about, steven has never been poofed... if his gem were to re form what would be left steven or pink diamond?
Matthew Lugo _he will die_
Wɪɴʀʏ Roᴄᴋʙeʟʟ it's what I think is gonna happen
Organic Steven will die, while pink Steven will continue on.
I feel there is still more to this. For one thing yes this makes her more of an anti-hero, not a villain but on the other hand Pink did get childish but I don't think she is bad. She did get impacted by Greg
Way back in Rose’s Scabbard Pearl showed that she was giddy and honored that there were things Rose only told her and no one else. I think that she was honored that she got to keep such a big secret.
Pearl first covers her mouth in Back to the Moon when Eyeball reveals the story that Rose shattered Pink Diamond. Steven becomes visibly upset about this because he cannot imagine that his mother shattering anyone. I feel that Pearl was more shaken up at the fact that she couldn’t assure Steven that his mother in fact did not shatter anyone.
I don't think she had Garnet at that time, from what we see in the clips the other diamonds are telling pink she needs to handle her own problems. So blue would not have interfered on Earth till after the shattering of pink, so Ruby and Sapphire couldn't have met and fused prior to to this plan. What also confuses me is when did Rose meet bismuth we see she already has the sword that she had mad for rose. I would like to see a timeline to clear these ideas up.
The shattering plan came at the very end of the war, when all other attempts had failed to get the Diamonds to abandon the colony. The war started as just Pink’s forces and Rose’s rebels, when Pink had control of the situation, and was trying to make an excuse to leave. But Blue and Yellow stepped in to assist, and escalated the war. In The Answer, we saw Rose try to scare Blue off, but failed. That was shortly after Blue came to Earth, after the war had been going on for a while. The total war went on for almost a thousand years.
Garnet can only predict the future that she has information about. Since she didn't know the truth there was no way she could predict any outcome concerning the shattering.
PS, the answer was at the beginning of the gem war
All Saphires have future vision. When both sides of a war have future vision, reliably seeing any outcome is impossible.
No, she would've had Garnet already. The way it's portrayed in the show implies that the war ended VERY quickly after Pink's shattering. The sequence of events as given in the show is: The war starts. Yellow and Blue get involved. Pink fakes her own death in an attempt to end the war, and the other diamonds send the corrupting light as retaliation.
I'm sure the "seal" that Pink put on Pearl was purely metaphorical. Pearl kept the secret because she still had the basic mentality of a pearl serving their diamond. She never outgrew that phase, even when she rebelled against home world for thousands of years. Even when Pink was gone, Pearl never said anything to Steven or the other gems because she couldn't break her conditioning as a servant. Even when she finally managed to "tell" Steven, she didnt really tell him. Her guilt finally caught up with her and used the phone as an excuse to finally tell him the truth by showing it to him. So pearl managed to keep her promise with Pink without breaking it.
I really don't see Rose/Pink Diamond as evil just very naive. She was doing what she felt was the right thing, and meant well by it, she just went about it the VERY wrong way.
I also think that maybe she originated the "gemsona" of Rose Quartz as an escape from the duties and confines of being a Diamond, and then the rebellion came into it along the way.
MathildaDee_Lillyluvsanime the road to hell is paved with good intentions
MathildaDee_Lillyluvsanime She was a classic overt narcissist.......
Stalin felt that making Russia a superpower was more important than the well being of his people. But nahhh hes fine, he had good intentions.....
MathildaDee_Lillyluvsanime yeahhh after what she did to spinel she’s evil
@TheLuigifan8881 Where on the show does it indicate that Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz didn't care or was ignorant about what would happen to those who fought for her? In Rose's Scabbard she tells Pearl explicitly about what would happen if she joined the rebellion, whether they won or lost.
There was no indication on the show that Rose knew or could reasonably guess that Homeworld was coming back in the next 5000 years when they hadn't in the previous 5000. The only source of danger to Steven was from a few corrupted Gems, who could be dealt with by GAP.
As for Greg, if he told Rose that he accepted the consequences of Steven's birth, then no one can claim that Steven was abandoned to him.
Spinel: who knows?
I dislike her even more after finding out what she did to spinel in the movie
Dead Nation yea
I’m sure everyone does
Nah I didn’t care about it, my opinion never changed, I’m that small minority that likes all the characters even if the rest of the Fandom hates them.
In my opinion, I think that Pink shouldn’t be hated so much for leaving spinel. She had pink pearl taken away from her by the diamonds, so she was looking for someone else to replace her. Soon she realized that she couldn’t replace pink pearl, even with someone as bright and new as spinel, so she had to move on. She was ready to mature and grow, lead her own colony, help earth, but she didn’t know how to properly end this chapter of her life. She had barely learned even the slightest concept of feelings besides her own until after she met Greg. She was treated so horribly by the diamonds and her reason for being so childish and selfish for so long was that she was never taught by the diamonds of how to be mature, she was only lectured and tortured. She could have also wanted to not be like the diamonds, as they were destructive and evil (before the rebellion ended obviously), but then again, she new nothing better than the “evil”. Pink became accustomed to this harmful and selfish lifestyle, and she had no one to teach her how to be good. This is why I feel that spinel being left in the garden and pink being so immature is caused by the diamonds who constantly trapped Pink in a cycle of hurt and dependence. But Rose could have taken responsibility for her immaturity and put in the extra effort to learn maturity on her own, if she wasn’t constantly trapped in blue’s chamber. This whole thing is so morally confusing- I thought this was a kids show lol
@@kiryee
So I guess we aren't blaming the diamonds either, since they were influenced by white and their progamming to lead gem kind. I mean sure, that does make their actions less horrible but it doesn't fix them completely, they still could have recognised the suffereing they inflicted upon their underlings. Same with Spinel except worse. She could have rescued Spinel at any point, she could have done when she was bored as hell while running the colony, she could have done it as rose and then turned Spinel into a Crystal gem or even just as pink. Although she'd likely do it as Rose because there would be a good chance of Spinel accidently ratting out Pink diamond, especially at the begining. She completly forgot about Spinel, even just days after leaving her.
Rewatching in light of the movie. This really proves her selfishness in retrospect
She isn't different. We simply have to attribute all of 'Rose's' actions to Pink Diamond, now, which means that the real 'different' character is... Pink Diamond. We did actually know Rose (nee PD), we just didn't actually know Pink. Now we do, a bit more. Rose isn't a villain- Pink simply... wasn't.
PS: It's a fine theory, I just see it differently. ;)
My thoughts, summarized brilliantly. I need to stop writing essays in these comments sections.
a anti hero or a villain.
If by 'villain' we mean the most morally compromised character then yes. But Sugar claims their are no villains in SU, and I think Sugar means that their are no 2 Dimensional 'Snidely Whiplash' characters that are just sadists. Pink is not sadistic, she dose not draw pleasure from anyone's suffering and dose not wish to hurt anyone. The problem is that she dose not CARE if she hurts people, because Pink is a Sociopath who lacks empathy for others.
They’ve shown that she cares quite a bit, she just doesn’t always consider all the consequences and acts impulsively. After begging for a colony, a chance to prove herself, she tried on multiple occasions to abandon the colony to protect organic life and the humans. Consider that. What would happen to Pink if she had succeeded in just leaving? She would have failed as a Diamond, she would have been disgraced. She only decided to live on Earth after she started the rebellion.
Also consider her words to Garnet in The Answer. “Who cares how I feel, how you feel is way more interesting.” That is the opposite of sociopathy.
Arella Jardin
then she caused it, why as for a colony then abandoned it
She didn't abandoned the colony she tried to save it did you even watch the show, the reason earth still exists is because she realized how horrible colonizing was and tried to do something about it.
She literally has massive amounts of empathy, she just so happens to be a fucking alien, all the crystal gems are not quite in tune with humanity. They all keep learning more and more things about it. are you high? Christ....
Except the Diamonds really are villains. Jasper really is a villain. Their motivations may be complex, but their actions still result in billions being threatened and lives lost. The Diamonds have destroyed god knows how many worlds to create colonies and wiped out who knows how many species without even giving a damn. And they were going to do the same to Earth and wipe out the human race. First for simply resources, then as a revenge for the rebellion with the Cluster. They authorized the use of shattered gems to be experiemented on. They shatter any gem who steps out of line or worse. They are evil. Sugar's comment that "there are no villains in Steven Universe" is dumb, since she clearly created some very sinister, ruthless, and overall monstrous villains in the Diamonds. It doesn't matter if they aren't sadistic in their actions, they're still responsible for genocide and war crimes.
After watching your 10 minute video on Rose, I totally agree with what you said on all that. I think it’s also the same reason why I have conflicting feelings on this. On one hand I really liked the reveal cause it’s a big game changer in the show and it really places more emphasis on earlier episodes which feature Rose and you can really understand what Rose/ Pink Diamond was doing.
On the other hand, I was disappointed that Pink Diamond was written as a childish character. In my opinion, I think it really reverses earlier arcs and I’d prefer if Pink was a more mature and threatening character and that she was really shattered. She could’ve been written as a mature character but kind as well. I think a better plot twist would have been that Pink was a really kind but strict Diamond or something along those lines and then when Rose shattered her, it would have a more impact on Steven. That’s just my opinion on that. Not saying it would work but I think it would be a better alternative.
Whether you like the reveal or not, I’m still super hyped for future episodes. I think the best thing about the reveal is that it shows that Pink is the true villain of the show. It’s a huge plot twist when you think of it that way.
Anyway great video! I love your analysis and it’s really well written and researched. Your one of the best Steven universe based content I’ve seen in the fandom. I can’t wait to see more videos from you on Steven Universe in the future! 🌷
Awwww, thank you so much! So happy that you enjoyed the video!
I don’t hate Rose as a written character, but as a person I hate her
Kayo Moon uh, would’t Pink be a straight Blue diamond rip off if they’d write her with said personality? (Strict but kind)
#AriTheLegend27 Blue’s personality type comes off to me as more of a shy strict kind and soft type. For Pink i meant I would’ve liked her personality to be more mature. What kind of personality she would have, i really don’t know. I just gave that as an example of something she could be. I’m really not fond of her childish character and the way she was written. I feel like the crew could’ve done a better job writing her character if she had slightly more screen time and the reveal was earlier.
Kayo Moon imo you’re delving in a little too deep for my liking, I mean it’s nice to have the diamond authority be structured alike, but it gets really mediocre and illogical considering pink is the youngest of them and that this is her first colony. Plus it wouldn’t add up for them to show “Rose” shatter “Pink” if she’d be “nice” and in which case, negotiable. What would the point of that be? To make Steven learn a lesson of necessity? Season 4 had been all about that if you haven’t noticed.
Pink/rose’s character progression was written backwards so if you want the character progression to make more sense put all of the pieces together in forward chronological order of the story
[Topic True Villain]: I would pose this question: What of White Diamond? The only time we've seen her take action was when the diamond authority essentially nuked everyone else during the gem war. I'm not saying Pink was right...but everything could have gone far worse. Just look at what the diamonds do to gems that don't 'fit the mold'...their shattered of course. War is a struggle, conflicting ideas, survival, advantage. Any of these reasons negate all arguments as to 'why' the war was necessary.
[Topic Focus of the Story]: On a side note: Remember the original outro song talking about "I could even learn how to love", Perhaps this is a story about something that does not possess love (like a diamond) learning to do so.
[Topic Diamond Mentality]: I feel Pink Diamonds tantrum is typical of any being raised to be a ruler. This requires more information however as I am not aware of how a diamond is made, nore the details of how they are raised. I will note though that neither yellow or blue have shown signs of true maturity. Yellow is constantly throwing her weight around brash and impulsive. Blue is pure despair, so dramatic it makes the people around her cry. They have so much power that they have no need for maturity or self restraint. Thus it is not Pink Diamonds fault that she starts off a brat, however I assume she is changed by Greg and her adventures with the gems, maturing into something better. But on this only time will tell.
Rose may not have done right by her friends or other gems, but where would life on Earth be if she hadn't rebelled against the other diamonds? At best, the planet would just have ended up hollowed out, another gem colony, resources tapped to create gem armies... I think perhaps some prices are worth paying!
Agreed. Although I'm still not happy Rose was revealed to be Pink Diamond. I think that takes away a lot from her character in that she was originally a regular footsoldier for her overlord until she rebelled out of a moral decision.
I still think she rebelled out of a moral standpoint as she clearly loved the Earth and humans, but sure, it takes some stuff away. It also adds so much more! It adds so much to Steven and his potential, I mean, being a human/gem hybrid was something unique, but how can he not affect Gem society now he's Pink Diamond? Letting herself grow up as Steven might have been the only way PD would have been able to get through to the other Diamonds regarding the life on the worlds they colonise, even if it wasn't her plan from the start. And to think we probably have Greg to thank for that!
Pink Diamond is not that selfish monster that everyone says she is she saved garnet pearl from the corruption light! If she hadn't care about them she wouldn't have saved them! She brought lion back to live because she cared about him! She saved humanity she left behind her position as a diamond to free the earth she had no choice! She tried to say that she loved earth but the diamonds didn't listen that's why she had to fight! Yeah she made a lot of mistakes but she didn't do that on purpose and as a diamond her other choice was to destroy the earth and shatter her defective gems! The other diamonds destroyed many planets and they shattered thousands of gems they don't care about anyone but you say pink is a monster!
She ISN'T a monster. What she IS is irrisponsible and selfish. Not evil. But, she is not a good person.
Based comment
Rose Quartz loves humans. She gets guff from her fellow gems over it, but she stands firm. She's into humans, and makes no apologies about it.
I’d say an “anti-hero” if anything.
I think Rose knew, that the other gems would have threated her diffrently if she would lead the rebelion as a diamond
11:13
Big Yikes after the movie. You were definitely right.
Tho... If Pink diamond started the rebellion as a diamond. The other rebels would only follow her due to their sworn allegiance to their diamond or a diamond in general and Blue and Yellow diamonds' involvement in the crystal gem war would have become much more personal than just "THERE'S A REBEL ATTACKING PINK DIAMOND'S PLANET!" which is probs why Pink diamond only used a DIPLOMATIC approach when in diamond form... but still her second identity as ROSE QUARTZ arguably made more of a point. because it feels more impactful when you see people taking orders from a lowly quartz soldier as oppose to a diamond, which they are bound to obey by DESIGN
A Single Pale Rose was a beautiful episode following Can’t Go Back. I just love it.
All I can think about is Spinel and how much pain she went through from Pink 😭
I just think about how Spinel wanted to destroy all life on Earth, life that certainly didn't put her in a position for pain.
What if RoseDimond designed the human zoo as a initial attempt to make human gem hybrids (hugeman) by adding gem dust from shattered gems into their food for centuries. Then after her "death" had to think of a deferent way and the end result is Steven?
Dang this straight up sounds like a sith move during the Old Republic
Regarding the point about the punishment of the entire Rose Quartz "species", it might be even worse. It was mentioned in the Zoo arc that Pink **designed** the Rose Quartz gems, meaning she **created an entire type of Gem specifically so she could impersonate and sacrifice them to get away from her own role in the Gem empire.** Granted, the whole faking her death thing could have been a later development after she'd created the gems and started the rebellion, but by the very nature of her disguise it's clear she specifically created the Rose Quartz gem type to be a lower caste gem she could disguise herself among--an entire gem type she created merely as a means to an end.
FlipzMCL this is honestly so horrible
it's about decisions, like diamond everyone would be forced to fight in the rebellion, like a quartz they had the option to choose whether or not they wanted to join
I don’t think that PD thought that home world would leave them alone if she faked her death I think she did it so that she didn’t have to keep up with her duties as a diamond and then being the rebellions leader on the side she wanted to be the rebellions leader full time
She was going off what Blue said in the previous episode. “This is your colony, it will be completed as long as you are here.” She knew they would pull out if she was thought dead. She just didn’t expect them to retaliate in such a way.
5:35 Not really - Blue told her that as long as PD is present at all, the colony will complete so she removes PD from the picture. She chose to gamble on this as opposed to sitting there which she thought was sure demise of the planet
I agree with the video. Rebecca Sugar herself said Rose was a horrible person, just by what Pearl had to suffer because of her and even deciding to run away from everything or at least, deciding to be another being, that's twisted for me. I used to love her, but the truth is Rose was only lovely towards steven, she was profound about humans with him but every single memory of her was selfish at some point. That's not something good.
Of course, there are people who will defend her, after all, we passed years loving her. Some people will deny the fact, other will remain silent until the end of the show, and others like you and me will be upset about her actions. The best course of action right now is to wait and see if Steven will remember more of Pink and Rose memories when she was alone and thinking.
Edit: Also there's something no one is considering now: The real reason why rose bubbled Bismuth: She knew too much. She was the only gem who knew the sword "Rose" had coudn't shatter a gem. Pink probably didn't want gems to die that's true, but also she didn't want a flaw in her infalible plan. When Bismuth showed her the breaking point, that was the reason she needed to poof Bismuth and bubble her. If Bismuth was alive and somehow hear that Rose shattered Pink with her sword, she would say that's impossible. And that was something pink cound't let alone, so I really think the show will need to do a lot to make pink a "good" character now.
she stated a war where she was basicly the leader of both sides and sent them to fight each other theres a word for people like that a WARMONGER
You'll say something totally reasonable and provably true, and then say, "therefore Rose gets a thrill out of putting Pearl in danger and secretly wants to kill all Pearls" or something almost completely out of the blue, not really following up from the previous thoughts. That's how it seemed to me. Like, her spur-of-the-moment decision to order Pearl not to speak of it =/= distrusting Pearl or any of the Crystal Gems to keep a secret without it.
The show has not shied away from looking at the bad parts of Rose's identity, but being sometimes thoughtless and impulsive is not the same thing as being sadistic and willing to throw lives away for nothing. The beginning of this video even admits as much. And while it may be too early to say so, to assume that the selfish child Pink Diamond and the rebel leader of Rose Quartz she became later is the same in terms of sheer immaturity and selfishness, I don't think that's possible. A person who just wants things and doesn't care who she has to hurt in order to get it doesn't gel with what we've seen of how Rose acted during the war and ESPECIALLY afterwards (in her conversations with Greg and Garnet). Pink Diamond changed over the course of her reign, and while we as an audience (having seen the aftermath of those choices and how they affected others even hundreds of years later) know that many of the decisions she made weren't the right ones, Rose did listen to and value the feelings of others and her decisions were based on trying to save as many people and gems as possible.
We have to take into account how Rose's motivations changed over the course of the conflict. Pearl herself admits that the desire to save the pretty and appealing life of Earth was what drove her at first, but meeting Garnet and many of the other gems that were eventually drawn into the Crystal Gems made her desire freedom for all gem-kind, and she demonstrated that multiple times in the snapshots of the war we've seen.
Now, there is the important and dark detail that the fact of her being Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond was kept from all but Pearl. THAT is Rose's greatest sin, and the one that caused the most damage. That even her most trusted lieutenants and friends weren't let on to the fact that they were one and the same DID create a lot of strife. But even her decision to tell no one about her double life wasn't chosen out of sheer blindness to the gems around her. She made a decision that, in her mind, would save lives in the long run, and even with Garnet's future vision Rose couldn't have foreseen the destruction that would follow. She isn't vile or hateful, and she did have to un-learn a lot of behaviours that were instilled into her simply as a result of being royalty. But to say she's villainous simply because of bad decision-making isn't a reasonable analysis. It's a very black-and-white way of looking at things.
Though I agree that Pink hiding the truth from her closest friends, she couldn’t have started a rebellion without Rose Quartz. Pink Diamond going against the other diamonds would have appeared to a grasp for power, especially if her previous bratty behaviour had ever come to light, so whilst she might had her court on side she probably wouldn’t have had as much support. Rose Quartz, an earth born gem would fought back against an enemy who should have been more powerful would though; she’s the idea of every gem being more than their gem.
I think all the diamonds are the antagonists here, even Pink to an extent.
That's how I see it, too. I was also reminded that Pink said Yellow and Blue didn't care about Earth because it was Pink's colony. Was that also a lie or was she telling the truth? Either way, it still doesn't look good for Rose Quartz. Also, how about the time Rose Quartz attacked Blue Diamond and her court? Are we supposed to forget about that? Of course Yellow Diamond would be furious, but how is Blue going to react? Even thousands of years later Blue Diamond is still torn up about Pink Diamond's death. God, what a clusterfuck of a predicament!
💙
In the end, at least in my opinion, it boils down to the intentions. Yes, Rose made some horrible decisions and didn’t think everything through, but she did it all with good intentions. All she was trying to do was save Earth. And in a way, she did. She could’ve just kept colonizing but she refused. Even though Rebecca Sugar said there are no villains in the show, I like to think that the person to come closest to this status will be White Diamond.
After watching this I realized peridot had every right to insult rose quartz the failure
One of the major problems with this argument is that it assumes that Rose felt self worth despite 4 seasons implying the opposite to be true to. All the arguments about weather or not Pink Diamond would have been better symbol for the rebellion are meaningless if Rose couldn't comprehend the possibility of others seeing her that way. If we where to view Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl in the same way that you are here, then we'd have to consider them true villains too as they're directly responsible for Steven developing the same emotional problems that his mother had on top of their general rotten behavior that has been well documented by people outside the fandom.
A second major problem with this argument is that Rebecca Sugar already made a point to state that Rose's intentions where real.
Omg i have been waiting for a youtuber to articulate how I felt about this whole thing because a lot of people were defending her and even though I understood to an extent where they were coming from I still didnt agree with it and for so long no other youtuber has actually put what I was feeling into words, but you, everything you said is EXACTLY how ive been feeling since it happened and I am so glad somebody finally said it because I am so sick of Rose getting excused for her reckless, thoughtless and selfish actions that ended up hurting everyone BUT HERSELF because in the end she got to escape it all and leave her mess for somebody else to clean up because Rose has never had to take responsibility for her own actions or own up to them because just like the diamond she is she always had loyal followers willing to do and go along with anything she said, she preeched freedom but really her followers were anything but free as they were STILL following a diamond, she made all the orders, she made all the calls, she decided how things were done, and everyone just blindly followed her because they believed in her 'false' ideals, Rose took advantage of her followers naivite and manipulated them because SHE couldnt stand up to the diamonds and decided to make her gems do it for her
Like yellow said 'THEN ACT LIKE IT' Rose never acted like a diamond, she demanded to be on their level but when it was time for her to act like it she behaved like a child being scolded by her parents and making excuses to try and make them leave instead of acting like the diamond she says she is and standing up to yellow and blue and assert her rightful authority as pink diamond with her earth colony and tell them straight up that shes not doing it, it's her colony and shes choosing to spare it regardless of what they say, maybe THEN she would have had some respect because she demanded it and stood up like a diamond, thats not to say yellow and blue wouldnt have been furious but atleast blue might have been a bit more understanding and willing to listen to pink which then maybe able to pull yellow in as well [as for white is up in the air] pink would finally have gained their respect as a diamond, shes not acting like a child asking yellow and blue to help or making childish excuses but is standing up to them and doing what SHE wants with HER colony
But as we all know it didn't play out that way and she chose the selfish, cowardly and childish route then to stand up for herself and take responsibility for her own actions, but just run away and leave it for what few remaining followers she had left and her child to handle
The Steven Universe ending theme pretty much tells you exactly what type of person Rose Quartz is
This is a great video. Rebecca stated that the show is about loving yourself; here it shows that pink diamond was having difficulties with that; hence lie after lie.
Also, it didn't help her cause that she can heal (so far it we've been shown that she's the only one that can heal in the battlefield apart from her fountain). She probably figured, oh they are fine since I can heal their cracks, and that's "alright" since nobody else told her otherwise.
The worse part is that they unconditionally followed her and I think deep down it's because she was pink diamond. She literally made every gem on earth.
If Rose hasn't given Pearl the silence directive as Pink, Pearl would definitely have spilled the beans a long time ago. We saw how many times she had to restrain herself in this series. If she had told the Crystal Gems would they still follow Rose? If the Diamonds had found out who knows what the penalty would have been for a diamond turning on its own?
I LOVE YOUR THOUGHTS ON GREG AND ROSE!!!
Ultimately, Rose was a Diamond. And all her flaws and bad attitudes can be traced back to this. When you compare her to the other Diamonds you see they're all cut from the same cloth. They consider themselves infallible, disrespect their subjects, and ultimately consider the shattering of their subjects an acceptable loss.
i thing this is also wear stevens "Not telling others information,and doing whatever he wants" Part of his personality comes from. Its a Flaw from Pink,he will never get rid of
You forgot mention Bismuth, how she left her bubbled for years and did bother taking her out even after she was having a baby.
just wondering. will this channel be renamed to pink diamonds universe? or pinks universe? (this post is 90% joke)
Pink Diamond was like an immature child who was scolded a little too much. She only saw the times she was yelled at, the times she was told she messed up, the times she was called a failure, the times she was told she was too weak. In her eyes, she legitimately thought the other diamonds only saw her as a nuisance. While this is obviously wrong to us the viewers, that's the point. Pink was immature, Pink was foolish, and Pink probably didn't even realize that the diamonds attacked Earth because they were tryig to get revenge for her, but rather that the diamonds simply hate the status quo being disrupted. Pink never considered Blue or Yellow, because in her eyes Blue and Yellow were monsters who hated her. It's only now that Steven can see the truth because he actually has empathy.
I'm glad someone sees just how much we loved her 💙💙💙
I'm glad she didn't start the rebellion as diamond. Remember pink diamond just started a colony so she wouldn't have enough soldiers to fight homeworld. so she did right, what I hate is they should introduced another rose quartz with a different actress voice. that would have made more sense for the big reveal.
She is laterally a diamond and that's kinda how the diamonds were. Yellow diamond even said she didn't want to hear the thoughts of a peuny little peridot. So while Rose/Pink led the rebellion she was probably still trying to be a better leader by still following what yellow or blue would say.
Rose Quartz isnt the biggest villian in the series but shes definitely the one who most negatively impacted the main cast. Which is why shes so hated.
I think the important message in Steven Universe is that there isn't really evil people. It's their actions that make them evil. Look at Peridot, she was coined evil but once you understood where she came from, she no longer was deemed evil. The same will hold true for Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz. We think her taking the persona of Rose Quartz was for selfish reasons but we still don't know her real reasons. There is still a LOT we don't know about Pink Diamond and what was shown to us was to lure us to believe she might be a bad person. I think SU showed us we need to stay nuanced because people are complex and so was Pink Diamond.
I agree with your arguments that PD/Rose’s actions can be perceived as selfish , but the conclusion that this makes her the TRUE villain of the show seems like a leap that you didn’t elaborate enough on. That said, I felt you organized your thoughts on the flaws of her choices well, I couldn’t of explained it any better.
I think rose took the form of a rose quartz because a lowly quartz soldier uprising against the diamonds is more impactful to others than a diamond because they wouldn't exactly be free because they would still be following a diamond
I think Rose/Pink is a sage warning to all of us about thinking our causes are the nobel causes. I am not sure there are any real villains in this show, it's more like a character study of villains and heroes and dissecting the fine line between them.
I will say I still love Rose/Pink as a beautifully written complex character. I just love her for that reason. I don't like her as a person, because yes, everything you said is correct. She comes from a very selfish background and that takes years of making mistakes to change. This is why you don't give planets to children.
But I can't help but think there is still more going on here. I can't help but think back on the Can't Go Back episode with the Shadow Pearl pulling the sword and can't help but wonder if that was a memory of an assassination attempt by a disguised Sneople acting on White Diamond's orders to shatter Pink for real, and part of the reason she staged her own shattering was to hide.
Imagine being a Rose Quartz and just doing your job serving your Diamond and suddenly you’re told you need to be imprisoned because ONE of the hundreds of other Rose’s decided to rebel against your Lord.
Also you can’t tell me not ONE Rose Quartz was in the rebellion with Pink. There had to be a point in time before the Rose’s were bubbled where at least a few joined? Also was Pink forced bubble all her own Gems? They were in pink bubbles.
Snake people and white diamond will be the true villain
:)))))
Excellent video. You analyzed Pink/Rose as a character, and her actions superbly. :3
I think everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I do think it really ironic and annoying that Steven Universe fans are immediately trying to erase the concept of moral ambiguity in a show focused so heavily on flawed characters on all sides of a war, and in which some of the favorite characters that fans love to paint over the mistakes of are other morally ambiguous characters or outright antagonists. From all indications we've gotten so far, Rose genuinely thought what she was doing was best for everyone. Does it make her a good person? Depends on how you measure morality (intentions vs. effects). Does it make her a villain? Not that I see. An incredibly flawed person, whom Steven needed to learn about in order to finally overcome the feeling of being in her shadow, yes. But not a villain.
Please realize that we just got this revelation, and have no idea what the Crewniverse will do with it going forwards. This damning of a character or a show's decision before either of those things is rrally exploted is really getting on my nerves.
perfectly said 👏
Something else worth mentioning: whether it was part of her original intention or not, Homeworld does not have a place for the unusual, the unexpected, the "ugly" or "broken". And as a result of Rose's rebellion, those gems now have a place that they can find validation and freedom. Rose didn't create the circumstances for such "off-colours", because even without any real influence (short of campfire-style horror stories) we find that undesired gems do exist on Homeworld regardless.
but Rose couldn't have asked Garnet about this possible scenario or that would expose her secret
Wandering Huntress a secret that fucked up the lives of everyone who cared about her
The secret itself didn’t fuck up their lives. Homeworld did that. Whether they fought for Rose, or fought for Pink, what they wanted to fight for was freedom to choose and be themselves. The secret doesn’t change that. Moreover, the idea that everything would have worked out if Pink had rebelled as a Diamond, is an assumption. It is an unknown outcome that didn’t happen. It’s also likely that Pink rebelling openly would have led to complete failure, including Earth being colonized by another Diamond. But we can never know What would have happened.
If she told her secret before the corruption, then gems could have been saved.
How would it expose her secret...if she asked " Hey If I shatter pink diamond, what will happen?"
While canon is somewhat ambiguous, it's probable that Garnet first formed after Pink was shattered, which is why Blue Diamond was directing the trap for Rose Quartz.
About the quartzes in the zoo; note the color of the bubbles. They're all pink, every single one of them. If blue or yellow had bubbled those gems, the color of the bubbled would be indicative as such. Pink diamond must have bubbled those rose quartzes herself, and I believe it was to make it easier for herself to hide in her lie. If she was running around with all these ridiculous powers and while every single other rose quartz was a equipped with nothing but completely average quartz abilities, somebody would have started getting suspicious REAL quick.
COMPLETELY AGREED
Don't forget about the human Zoo, and Lapis traumatize being stuck in the mirror, she could have done something about that. Oh yeah and bismuth.
Re-watching this and actually commenting on it, You're right. PD had a lot of trauma and her becoming rose quartz didn't help. And seeing all the people here saying you're just hating is odd. they don't understand that just because Rose had good intentions doesn't make her any less bad. If your intentions are good but your actions show the opposite of that then they don't matter. Any one can say they have good intentions, they need to show it physically. Also seeing most trying to cradle her like she's a baby because she has trauma is disgusting. Trauma explains not excuses, She still has so much fault in this.
Reading these comments hurt my brain so much, Steven universe fans can't argue intelligently at all
Pink was the youngest of the diamonds. I think wanting to have her own colony was because she wanted to be like her siblings. Some of her actions were because she was afraid of what the other diamonds would do and didn't know how to stop their attempt to colonize Earth. The other diamonds were a bit like Pink's guardians. As Steven found out in the finale, they often locked her in a tower for every punishment and Blue forced her to feel immense sadness with her powers. Blue's powers were based on emotional manipulation. Steven figured out about the abuse Pink went through because the dream he had of her memory of being locked in the tower was almost identical to when Blue entered after Steven woke up. Steven only knew that what they did with Pink was wrong because, unlike her, he knew what it was like to have a loving family. The diamonds poofed the other gems just for standing up for Steven. I suspect Pink's abuse of her old Pearl might have been the results of both psychological issues and bad role modeling. Pink's sisters often did the same to other gems and even her. I think it was only after seeing White Diamond taking that Pearl's free will that she could actually see how bad she had been to her.
The bottom line is, the writers and creators are immature and it translates into the actions of their characters.
I think she found Garnet after she staged her shattering and turned into Rose forever. So that would explain why she didn't consult in Garnet before she staged her shattering. But this is just what I think.
If Pink Diamond is a child then can you really consider her to be evil or perhaps she's just immature instead?
Being immature is just that being immature...it doesn't make you evil.
When you're immature you make mistakes and that's what Pink Diamond did.
Daniel Blair i think she did mistakes and tried to fic them but it only got worse and worse.
And yes I view it as she did ask for help from Blue and Yellow but they only disregarded it as complaints and didn’t take her seriously, just as many children is treated.
Pink never asked for help. She made excuses of why she couldn't do certain things. Did you even watch episode Linnzy because they brought up what excuses she made. That's not asking for help
Daniel Blair
If these "mistakes" create wars and take thousands of lives... that's evil
Gems aren’t children and don’t grow . This is her personality. Everything thing we see is threw the eyes of everyone else .
@ BooshButters
A mistake isn't evil, doing something intentionally is evil.
A mistake isn't done intentionally, so therefore it isn't evil no matter what the outcome of that mistake might've been.
One thing I’m still thinking is why didn’t Pearl try to tell the others once Steven was born? I mean surely telling them then would have been important.