Steven Universe

[Angua]

Spoiler:

I feel like Rose is way to OP to be a normal soldier, though finding out that the sword was forged and not a weapon changes that slightly.

She has a massive shield and protection bubble that can make spikes. She can float. She can control plants. She can heal almost anything. She's larger than the other gems (hard to tell if larger than Jasper?) and so probably a pretty powerful fighter.

If Steven is anything to go by she can also shapeshift and is telepathic (Steven has been jumping into people's bodies/dreams).

She somehow has a lion that's persisted after she's turned into Steven - it doesn't seem to be something normal for gems as the other gems didn't recognise him as something that could be a thing. This lion can move extra-dimensionally and has a weaponised roar.

What can the others do? They each have a weapon. Amethyst seems super gifted at shapeshifting. Garnet can see the future (Sapphire - cold powers + future vision, Ruby - hot powers only). Pearl has holograms. Peridot has magnetism. Lapis has a bit more at flying + waterbending + whatever mirror thing she has going on.

I feel like this show is too well thought out to just attach loads of powers to Rose without thinking it through. Also, Pearl was apparently 'hers' and was 'fancy' (though that might just be Pearl having grown into herself more than most pearls as she has her freedom).

[Angua]

Double posting for just having reread the whole thread:
It's pretty cool all the stuff that was predicted/hoped to happen that has

Spoiler:

Centipeetle came back, and got a better ending
Stevonie has been fighting with shield and sword
Bismuth finally appeared (and turned out to be a former ally and a powerful enemy).

The one thing that hasn't been resolved (which I had forgotten about, but I'm still sure is going to end up being significant):

Spoiler:

The line about 'harvesting' gems. While bubbling might not be exactly the same thing (especially as they've now put Bismuth in the same room as the corrupted gems), I think it's going to turn out to be something weird happening on homeworld

Also, something that hasn't really been speculated about so far, but I am hoping will turn out to be interesting:

Spoiler:

The show heavily implies that there are lots of other colonies out there, presumably all under Homeworld's rule. It would be really cool to find out if there have been other rebellions since the Earth rebellion (which seems to have been the first), or if they ever went to other colonies and started spreading individualism.

The whole 'gems are created for a purpose' is making it seem like the Diamonds are in charge of who gets made when and what they do. Pearls seem to be the domestic slaves, but Bisthmuths sound like they are made when things need to be built and they get told what to make, rubies seem to be the pawn type of soldiers, quartzes are the heavier type of soldiers, etc. Greg the babysitter seemed to imply that even Rose was created knowing what her 'purpose' should be. Peridot makes it sound like they are deliberately creating less powerful gems to use less resources (as though there is a choice).

If Homeworld is running out of resources to make more gems, does that mean that they are going to collapse leading to an inevitable rebellion? Maybe Homeworld is creating a false scarcity to avoid making gems that would be powerful enough to rebel like Rose.

[Zohar]

Those are all interesting points. I wonder... Rose wanted to have a child, certainly a lot of it has to do with wanted to experience more human parts of life, we also learned (Bismuth spoilers)

Spoiler:

She might have thought Steven would be able to do things she couldn't do

, but was there also just the wish to procreate? Like, why does Homeworld want to keep producing gems? They live pretty much forever, so death isn't usually an issue for them. I suppose this might have to do with whoever the original builders of the gems were, if they're not a "naturally-occurring" race.

[Angua]

So much just happened!!!

Earthlings

Spoiler:

First off, loved the concept of Memorps. Lapis and Peridot have turned into a beautiful friendship.

Jasper catching corruption from the fusion was interesting, and expected (though tbh I thought that she'd stay fused with the monster for longer than that). Smokey Quartz is paving the way for future human-gem fusions - I'm not surprised that Amethyst was the first to fuse with Steven, as she's always been the closest to him in terms of personality and outlook.

Also, Pink Diamond has finally been mentioned! Looks like Rose is definitely not her. How long is it going to take for us to find out what happened? Hopefully before the Summer of Steven is over, but for now it looks like we've got Rubies to contend with.

I'm so glad Peridot was the one to poof Jasper in the end with her new found metal bending.

Also, don't know if they'll go down this road or not, but I wonder if Steven is going to get infected now. I imagine if so they'll give it a bit of an incubation period but you never know with this show.

[Zohar]

Spoiler:

I doubt it - other gems have been in touch with corrupted gems (for example any time they physically fight them) and were OK. I think it's specifically the fusion that caused this. Love Smoky Quartz!

Belial posted a link on FB to how some SU fans criticize the show for its treatment of black characters. A lot of it is based on this essay, which has some incredibly valid points - for example about the portrayal of Sugilite, how most stable fusions we've seen include a non-black character (Opal, Sardonyx, and Rainbow Quartz vs. Sugilite), etc.

I feel like some of it is unwarranted, and I find some of the person's outlooks a bit strange (they say Jasper is read as black, but it's unclear to me why. If it's because she has a black voice actress, does that make Amethyst Asian?). Anyway, I'm really curious to hear what other people have to say about it. There are practical reasons why we may not have seen Sugilite again to redeem her (Nicki Minaj is unavailable, probably), but that doesn't mean her resolution was so great in-world.

She also mentions Sardonyx in the context of Pearl raping Garnet, but I disagree with that. I think specifically in Garnet's case, fusion is the embodiment of their relationship, but for Steven and Connie, and Greg and Rose, that was not the case (I don't get the feeling Steven & Connie would want to exist solely as Stevonnie, for instance). I think in most cases, fusion is more about being a connection built on trust, which can be employed in different ways - usually to form a stronger entity. And I also disagree that Pearl was portrayed as the victim and Garnet as the one who has to console her during the Sardonyx arc.

I'm very curious to hear what other people think.

Also, re Bismuth:

Spoiler:

I don't see Bismuth is a monster, or an irredeemable character. I felt quite a lot of sympathy towards her, and to say that because she's been puffed that implies she's evil feels, to me, like an oversimplification.

[Angua]

I mean, I can see some of what they say, but also disagree. I'm not very certain why Amethyst and Jasper are being coded as black, and I can easily understand why Pearl would be seen as Asian.

Also, I'm not sure if I'd class Sugilite as 'unstable' - she was certainly the hardest to unfuse. We've seen Garnet become obsessive before (the one with the video games), and Pearl is self-controlled to an uptight degree, which is why her fusions seem to be a bit more disciplined probably, but also why they don't last that long - she has the most difficulty of giving herself up. Most fusions as far as I can tell come with some degree of addiction, and Pearl certainly fell for that hard.

Pearl to me was definitely not the victim in the Sardonyx arc. Even Steven seemed pretty horrified when he found out what was going on. I'm not sure whether or not fusion counts as rape to me (I can see the argument either way), but I'd definitely count it is a violation of trust.

I don't know, these things are always coloured by how you perceive things anyways. It's tricky territory, death of the author and all that.

[natraj]

he is coding amethyst as black because amethyst's speech and mannerisms are all heavily coded as black hood-girl. the way she talks, moves, dresses, comports herself, are all very stereotypically associated with a certain kind of (often-disparaged and seen as "low-class") black woman.

i read the arc with sardonyx/garnet/pearl and pearl tricking garnet into fusing as unquestionably a rape metaphor.

and zohar, the part near the end of friend ship? where they were trapped in the pit and pearl p much broke down into tears about how garnet is so strong etc and she just wanted a part of that? and then garnet had to a) explain herself and how she needs to be strong for the gems and she isn't actually just always that tough but then b) proceed to set that aside and be the strong one again so that she can get over the violation: reassure weepy pearl that pearl is so special and has value of her own, then fuse with her again, is basically a reoccuring trope both in media and also real life of how Black women carry a disproportionate amount of emotional labour for nonblack folks... all the time. like sure who cares about their emotions they're strong and tough and gonna handle it while also fixing the more delicate white women's fragile emotional problems!

so yeah it was a trainwreck of racist problems that probably are not so glaringly apparent if you are not black. pearl was not the victim, but was playing the part real well in order to make garnet (who WAS the victim) step up and do the hard actual emotional work there.

i also have a lot of feelings about bismuth but honestly i'm too genuinely infuriated by steven universe as a whole at the moment to sort them coherently; i used to love this show so much but its continued treatment of its black-coded characters reached a rageful tipping point with bismuth for me so i need to come back to that when i can put my words into things that are clear.

[Zohar]

That's fair, and I really appreciate your insight - like I said, there were a lot of things I didn't pick up on initially, and am still struggling with understanding (I didn't think Sugilite is particularly troubling at first, and it's glaringly obvious after reading and thinking about it a bit more). I also hope the second part about Bismuth comes out because I'm very curious to see their thoughts.

[The Great Hippo]

and zohar, the part near the end of friend ship? where they were trapped in the pit and pearl p much broke down into tears about how garnet is so strong etc and she just wanted a part of that? and then garnet had to a) explain herself and how she needs to be strong for the gems and she isn't actually just always that tough but then b) proceed to set that aside and be the strong one again so that she can get over the violation: reassure weepy pearl that pearl is so special and has value of her own, then fuse with her again, is basically a reoccuring trope both in media and also real life of how Black women carry a disproportionate amount of emotional labour for nonblack folks... all the time. like sure who cares about their emotions they're strong and tough and gonna handle it while also fixing the more delicate white women's fragile emotional problems!

so yeah it was a trainwreck of racist problems that probably are not so glaringly apparent if you are not black. pearl was not the victim, but was playing the part real well in order to make garnet (who WAS the victim) step up and do the hard actual emotional work there.

I did not initially read the episode that way at all (probably because I am not black, and also tend to be pretty bad at picking up on racial-coding in narratives); however, now that you put it that way, I can definitely see that angle (and how it's kind of a trainwreck). I vaguely recall thinking that Garnet telling Pearl she isn't strong (and seeing Garnet literally break apart in an earlier episode) seemed like a positive way to deconstruct the stereotype of the emotionally indomitable black woman (because yeah okay I suck at noticing racial coding but I'm not so bad that I couldn't tell that Garnet is coded as a black woman), but it didn't occur to me that -- in the pit -- Garnet still ends up being the one who has to reassure Pearl, and still ends up being the one who has to 'suck it up' and fuse all over again.

That being said, I'm curious if there would have been a better way to resolve this? Maybe having Pearl come to the conclusion Garnet basically had to drag her to -- and offer a genuine apology, on her own? I don't know; maybe this is something they shouldn't have tried to tackle in the first place. Situations like this usually don't have happy resolutions; thinking back on it, it seems kind of jarring that this situation was ultimately resolved.

[Isaac Hill]

Like, why does Homeworld want to keep producing gems? They live pretty much forever, so death isn't usually an issue for them. I suppose this might have to do with whoever the original builders of the gems were, if they're not a "naturally-occurring" race.

Spoilers through Earthlings

Spoiler:

In "Greg the Babysitter", Rose said Gems pop out of the ground knowing what they are and what they should do, and that's how it is forever. I assume some Gems pop out knowing that their job is to propogate the species, so they do that forever. They never think about whether or not they need to.

I love that one of the anti-spoiler ?-burst symbols in the CN promo for this week was covering Peridot's toilet sculpture.

As fun as Smoky Quartz was, I was a bit let down that Amethyst didn't learn to fight Jasper on her own. Amethyst seemed like she only used the standard Quartz-soldier techniques of frontal assaults and spin attacks. But, she's a small Quartz, so those won't work against a full sized Quartz. I was expecting/hoping Amethyst would learn to fight in a way that works for her, making her more of a fully-realized Amethyst than a defective Quartz.

For example, she hardly ever uses her shape-shifting in a serious fight. She went Purple Puma when sparring with Bismuth. But, she didn't even think to fly after Peridot until after they'd had a truce.

So, an essay about how Steven Universe doesn't portray any of its black female characters well ignores the actual black female characters? Kiki, Jenny, and Nanafua aren't main characters, but they've gotten more screen time and dialogue than Opal or Sugilite. Instead, there seems to be some circular reasoning:
1) Identify negative stereotypes of black women.
2) Code Gems diplaying those traits as black.
3) Complain about SU being racist.

I don't know how you get Jasper as black. She looks like she fronts an 80s hair metal band and her dialogue... (spoiler for Earthlings)

Spoiler:

...comes across as White Supremacist, what with her pro eugenics slant saying that those born defective should be cast aside.

The author says Lapis and Peridot would be discussed as Asian, but they aren't discussed at all. He codes no Gems as Latina. The only Gem he discusses at any length who he doesn't code as black is Pearl, and apparently there's no consensus on whether she'd be white or Asian.

Maybe if Pearl's character arc and personality traits had been assigned to a black coded character, that would solve a lot of the issues in the post. You'd no longer have the non-black coded character being the most feminine, and you wouldn't have the black victim consoling her non-black victimizer. But, since part of that arc/character is being of a slave race, coding that character as black could introduce a different set of unfortunate implications.

He also doesn't discuss Ruby and Sapphire. He cites Garnet having to make Pearl feel better after the Sardonyx debacle as an example of a black-coded character's needs coming second. But, the willingness to do that is Sapphire's, who's definitely the more feminine of Garnet's components, which contradicts the post's main premise that black-coded characters are shown as more masculine than others.

I'd also dispute the idea that Alexandrite and Opal are viable, stable fusions. Alexandrite couldn't make it through dinner and Opal entirely forgot she was supposed to find the beetle.

At least reading that gave me a deeper reason to dislike Sardonyx besides fiding her incredibly annoying.

[Zohar]

I assume some Gems pop out knowing that their job is to propogate the species, so they do that forever. They never think about whether or not they need to.

That doesn't explain why they do that, though. At best it describes a mechanism.

I disagree a lot with your criticism of the essay. The amount of time Sugilite and Opal spend on-screen, compared to the Pizza family, is irrelevant to me. Seeing as the fusions are representations of the gems' relationships, it's almost as if they're present on-screen even without appearing. And the Pizzas are not main characters, the gems are.

As for the lack of discussion of characters of other races, and the switching between an Asian and a white Pearl, the point was to discuss racist undertones with regards to the black-coded characters on the show, so we don't really need much explanation of the other characters, except perhaps to explain why the essay doesn't discuss those characters. One thing I'm not sure about is Amethyst's coding as black - I think many people see her Hispanic, or bi-racial. It's true that there are commonalities between the cultural images of Hispanic/Latina and black people in media, though, so some of the criticism still stands regardless. I also disagree with characterizing Garnet is not feminine, or only feminine around more butch characters or men, and discussing Ruby and Sapphire and their own representations also make sense.

[Angua]

Holy exposition, Batman!

Back to the Moon

Spoiler:

So, Rose did shatter Pink Diamond. Makes you wonder why Bismuth didn't remind Steven of that when she was unveiling her weapon - if Rose has done it before, then it would make sense to remind her of that when deciding that it's the way to go.

Did the Ruby say how many colonies there have been? I didn't catch it if so (have limited internet atm so can't rewatch).

We still don't know what all these soldiers are for. It sounds like Rose was the first rebellion (at least in a long time) - what does an army do if there's no one to fight? Gems don't seem to do that much in their downtime (at least, that we have seen). They don't make art, it sounds like only Bismuths build. I guess there is some technological advancement, but somehow it doesn't seem like that's something that every gem does - probably mainly Peridots given how surprised Peridot was at Pearl's abilities.

Also, it's interesting that Amethyst was never told about the Shattering. Seems like she hasn't been told a lot about the war.

[Zohar]

Back to the Moon:

Spoiler:

Are you sure Pearl and Garnet knew about the shattering? I don't know if they did or not, and Bismuth might not have known either. Bismuth may have been bubbled before that happened, too.

There's a theory on reddit that Rose was created by Pink Diamond and ordered to shatter her, or that Pink Diamond moved her consciousness into Rose, or into Lion. Lots of unclear stuff...

[Angua]

BTTM

Spoiler:

It seemed to me that Pearl was bracing herself for the outcome before it was stated (also, neither of them looked like they were going to deny it, even for Steven). Jasper came into being during the rebellion and PD was shattered after that, meaning that it would be strange that Pearl and Garnet weren't around for that and somehow missed it. Especially as the explicatory Ruby seemed to think that it was common knowledge.

It's possible that Bismuth was already bubbled, I guess.

[Zohar]

Spoiler:

Well I meant more like, is it possible this is a myth perpetuated by Homeworld in order to rally gems around the Crystal Gems on Earth? I can also easily see Rose saying she "took care of" PD without elaborating on that to Garnet and Pearl. I suppose we'll see how this develops soon.

[Isaac Hill]

Back to the Moon

Spoiler:

Angua - I'd assume the soldiers were meant to fight indigenous life on the planets the Gems were colonizing.

Zohar - I don't think that's a myth. Eyeball Ruby said she witnessed it herself, and if she were that used to lying, she'd probably be harder to fool. It's possible that Homeworld Gems shattered PD themselves and framed Rose, but I doubt Pearl and Garnet would believe it. I think their faces showed shock that Steven learned the truth. I'll look more carefully on rewatch.

Garnet's line "I'm so cross over it" reminded me of a question I've had for a while. Why does Garnet have a British accent while Ruby & Sapphire have American accents? Or, do British people have a Garnet accent in this universe?

I could see coding Amethyst as black, but not for the speech reasons in the essay. Her way of talking always struck me more as white-coded surfer even before she started saying "Bowacunga" while surfing. But, her nose and mouth are drawn similar to those of black humans, her Cool Kids analog was Jenny, and the color purple may be associated with black people/culture.

(I'm not entirely sure on that last one. I first saw it mentioned in some Boondocks strips about Samuel L. Jackson's lightsaber. I think I've seen other references since then, but that may be confirmation bias on my part. I just tried googling, but mostly got results about the movie "The Color Purple", which I haven't seen, so I don't know if it applies.)

If you're going to write about how the show treats its black coded characters, you do need to discuss the others for contrast. For example, there's lots of text and gifs there demonstrating that Pearl takes the feminine role in fusion dances with black coded characters. However, there's no acknowledgement that Pearl takes the same role in fusion dances with white coded characters, like with Rose in "Alone Together".

He left out the dance demonstration where Garnet pretty much slams Pearl up against the wall. That might support his argument if they didn't recreate that move with Steven taking Garnet's role. It's not that black characters always lead in fusion dances with non-black characters. It's that Pearl never leads, even when dancing with a child.

[Zohar]

Yeah like I said, I disagree with some of the critic, and I still think there's a lot of valid information there. BTW, I don't know anything about dance, but didn't Pearl when dancing in Mr. Greg?

Re: Garnet's accent, I don't think there's much to consider there. Estelle is British and so Garnet has a British accent. In-show, the gems have been around for so long that any connection between modern accents and the ones that they use is probably coincidental.

[Angua]

Bubbled + Kindergarden Kid

Spoiler:

Bubbled -

Rose confirmed to have shattered pink diamond. Would be interesting to find out how long Steven was out there for - I'm guessing his hibernation mode helps him survive with little to no air/water/food. It was kind of obvious that telling the Ruby that he was Rose Quartz's reincarnation was going to be a bad idea. I guess it's hard for him to realise how reviled and feared she was during the war (not surprising if she shattered a diamond).

Kindergarden kid - A good breather after the last couple of days. I liked the road-runner motif. Steven throwing marshmellows at Peridot was both hilarious and on point. I loved that Peridot's 'home' was back at the barn with Lapis. Kind of disproves the 'harvesting' thing though.

I can't wait to find out more about gem corruption and how it works.

[Zohar]

Up to Kindergarten Kid

Spoiler:

Bubbled felt a lot less impactful and significant than they aimed for, I think. Steven's choice to let Eyeball go seemed to go over much more easily than it should have.

Kindergarten Kid was adorable and hilarious and I loved it. I also want to know more about corruption, and I'm curious if Peridots really are that tough. Amethyst cracked her gem just falling on a rock, Peridot took a lot more hurt in this episode.

[Isaac Hill]

Zohar - You're right, Pearl did lead the 2nd time dancing with Greg. I was just thinking fusion dances, because that's what the original discussion mentioned. Pearl doesn't lead in those because she needs someone else to tell her what to do. Pearl's not seeking leadership from humans, and may still view humans somewhat condescendingly, so she'll lead dancing with one. Or, the show just wanted to flip the gender norms for one of their few dance scenes with differently gendered characters. Now, I'm trying to remember if it was Connie who dipped Steven in "Alone Together".

I do see how the show can come across badly. (through Bismuth)

Spoiler:

The show's fundamental premise seems to be that it's much better it is to talk through your differences with others than it is to fight them. The only two Crystal Gems who don't get this, and thus have to be beaten into some form of non-existence, are Sugilite and Bismuth. So, the two heroic Gems most likely to come across as African-American are basically put on the same level as the somewhat feral corrupted Gems and shard fusions, or the villianous Malachite.

Peridot was also poofed, but Steven let her out almost immediately so they could continue talking. There's really no in-universe reason he couldn't do the same with Bismuth. She only fought Steven because she though he was lying about not being Rose, and thus was Rose betraying her again. Once Steven said he'd tell Pearl & Garnet the truth, she believed he was different again, and her last words were spoken kindly. They'd still have to talk about shattering, but it looks like they could do so peacefully.

They probably won't for a while for the same reason Sugilite won't be back much for a more satisfying character arc: her voice actor's a guest, not regular cast. But, they didn't give downer endings to Opal or Alexandrite.

Non-essay stuff (Kindergarten Kid)

Spoiler:

Did we ever hear anything more about Harvesting besides that one line from Peridot after Steven frees her from the bubble? It could be Homeworld propoganda that CG's harvest Gems, it could be an actual process done on Homeworld that Peridot recognized, or both.

Peridot poofed pretty easily once the CG's finally caught her in "Catch and Release". Unless Garnet really has made her power levels hoppin' high by training with animal friends, I'd say they let Peridot take much more punishment than normal this episode because it was funny watching Peridot take punishment.

When Peridot was crushed, and all you could see was her legs flailing about in the air, the lighter color used on her toes made it look like she was wearing footie pajamas.

[Angua]

Know your fusion:

Spoiler:

I'm not going to lie - wasn't that impressed by that episode? Like, what was wrong with the yo-yo - it was so obvious that it was her weapon? It was really sad when Smoky started with the self-deprecating humour but I don't know if there was that much to be learnt by this one, other than 'don't steal other people's thunder.'

[Zohar]

Spoiler:

Yeah I didn't like it much either... I suppose it was interesting to spend time with fusions, and to learn fusions had rooms of their own. This fact is pretty obvious in retrospect, considering Garnet has her own room, but I never connected the dots before. Now I wonder what do Ruby's and Sapphire's rooms look like.

[Isaac Hill]

Know Your Fusion

Spoiler:

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would when Sardonyx showed up. They kept her laugh to a minimum, and she wasn't so over the top when interviewing SQ. Also, when she was crawling around, she looked like a cricket: 4 small forelimbs, two large rear limbs, and her coattails looked like wings folded on her back.

The 4th wall gags were pretty good:
Garnet acknowledging that she can't ask questions
Sardonyx wondering if they'd have to pay to use old recordings of Sugilite's voice
Clips captioned with "Footage courtesy of Cartoon Network"

I'll have to pay closer attention next time I watch "Steven's Lion". As I recall, Garnet picked up a giant axe from the battlefield. Back at the temple, G&A try to fit it through the door into Amethyst's room. If that's right, it may be foreshadowing a fusion's room dissolving when the fusion splits. Garnet wouldn't want to lose her stuff if she gets separated, and she wouldn't want to separate to get her stuff, so she'd store it in someone else's room.

It was odd that not stealing someone else's thunder was the moral Sardonyx's monologue emphasized. Everything else about the episode seemed to be about the importance of allowing people to thrive in their own way. It was obvious that the yo-yo was Smoky's weapon, but it wasn't obvious how skilled they are with it.

After seeing the "tricks" that just seemed to wreck the house, it makes sense that Pearl & Garnet would just see it as a crude bludgeoning tool. So, they dismiss the yo-yo and rate SQ against the skills of other fusions, and SQ keeps coming up short. It's not until the room starts falling apart and SQ grapples them to safety that Pearl and Garnet start asking about what else SQ can do with the yo-yo.

(edited to discuss thunder stealing lesson)

[Zohar]

Know Your Fusion

Spoiler:

It was odd that not stealing someone else's thunder was the moral Sardonyx's monologue emphasized.

Spoiler:

I don't think that's odd at all - Sardonyx is all show, and incredibly concerned with her image. It seems perfectly natural to me that she considers everyone "actors" on the stage she's on.

[Angua]

Going back down to one episode a week is hard

Buddy's book:

Spoiler:

This one was a lot of fun, and brings up so many questions!

1) What is the palanquin? Why was Rose living with 7 lions in the desert? I guess she used them to base Lion off, but how did she create Lion? Does Lion have a gem?

I loved the names he had for some things, they were pretty cool.

I've been wondering about where gems come from for a while. I see two possibilities:
1) they are basically robots, originally made by a different race who are now lost in the mists of time.
2) they are like the Kryptonians in MoS - they have been using cloning to create citizens to fill the gaps of their society for so long, they have lost the natural process for procreating.

I'm guessing either way, the Diamonds are the oldest gems (or, at least they want everyone to think they are), which is how they've managed to take control. I'm still holding out to meet gems who aren't from Homeworld, and/or a gem that's older than the Diamonds and can shed some light on how they came to power.

[Zohar]

I loved coming home every day to watch a new episode, but one a week is a lot more manageable and lets me absorb and understand the episodes more - with daily ones, they kind of blend together.
Re: Buddy's book: I loved it!

Spoiler:

It was so much fun! And lions?? And also parking Lion was great!

Regarding the palanquin, I've seen some speculation that it's Pink Diamond's palanquin, but while watching I just figured it was Blue Diamond's palanquin that we saw during The Answer.

Option 1 for gems (machines created by another race) makes the most sense to me. And I would love to see an expansion of the world a bit, though I'm guessing the next "big thing" we'll deal with is Steven coping with his mom's actions, and rescuing Rubies.

[Angua]

Spoiler for having been looking ahead at names for future episodes (in particular the one on the 9th of sept)

Spoiler:

Gem Harvest!

I really hope that calls back to whatever Peridot was talking about when she saw all the bubbles in the temple. I've been completely hooked on that one line since it came up and so far it's been completely ignored!!!! Especially in light of what they did to Lapis it would be really interesting to find out that gems can be used for powersources and the like, and to find out that there are gems powering the temple.

[Zohar]

I don't know if I'd read too much into episode names. I've never been able to guess the plot of an episode from its name, but that might be just me.

[eSOANEM]

I guessed this episode would be mostly about teaching kids the basics of mindfulness without them realising. I think that's the only one I've guessed.

[Angua]

I give you a real-life kindergarten.

Spoiler:

It is in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

[Zohar]

Any of them Amethyst-sized?

"Here Comes a Thought" is such a great song, I love it so much.

[Zohar]

There's a bunch of new mini-shorts up online. Here's one link. I only saw the Cooking with Lion one, which was obviously amazing, and Lion is amazing, and Cooking with Dog is amazing and you should all watch it.

[Zohar]

Mark Watches is up to the season 1 episode "Alone Together" and his review is a delight to read. I'm enjoying his reviews quite a bit.

Regarding the latest episode, Gem Harvest, I wasn't super impressed.

Spoiler:

There were lots of really great jokes, but I think the conservative uncle character hit a bit too close to home, and the story didn't seem to advance the overarching plot that much. His transformation was a bit too sudden, even taking into consideration Steven's magical friendship powers.

[Angua]

So, the latest Steven bomb came out.

It was really interesting. Gave us a bit of insight into Homeworld society. Also, I think it's definitely opened up the possibility for seeing more of the Gem extended universe.

Spoiler:

It was interesting seeing that Blue Diamond keeps the rest of the Rose Quartz line bubbled as they apparently can no longer be trusted, but doesn't want to destroy them as they were created by Pink Diamond. Were the 4 Diamonds the original Gems who then created everyone else? Or is that just the mythology they have built around themselves (maybe they just came out of the ground first) that they now believe it too. Also, the Diamonds still expect the cluster to be coming out of Earth - will be interesting to see what happens when they realise it's not happening.

I'm wondering if they are going to try and go rescue the other gems at the base when they find out that Yellow Diamond wants to destroy them.

The Zoo was also interesting, as it means that humans were around when they gems were trying to colonise the Earth. It makes a lot more sense why Rose wanted to save it. Also, thought it was interesting that the Amethyst guards could understand the humans while Blue Agate couldn't.

Now that they have a space-ship (I'm sure that Peridot will fix the settings) we can go anywhere! Also, given that Greg was fine, it means that Connie can come along too. I wonder if this is building up to going to Homeworld to sneak around for some reason.

[Zohar]

These were actually strangely leaked but not officially released, so I think I'll hold off on watching them until the official (US) air date, in two weeks.

[Liri]

I watched the first episode and wasn't too zonked about it, but it's cool that there's so much mythos and things to read in to.

Stephen's voice was a little too grating.

[Zohar]

I watched the first episode and wasn't too zonked about it, but it's cool that there's so much mythos and things to read in to.

Stephen's voice was a little too grating. :|

The first season progresses pretty slowly, and it takes a while until you learn a bit more about the world and what the show's about. I will say it's deeper than it appears, and the episodes are short. So if you can try to see a few more episodes, you'll be better informed in your decision.

[Isaac Hill]

Gem Harvest:

Spoiler:

I exepcted to learn more about the context of Peridot's earlier line, "You're going to harvest me?" The episode was good, but I first saw it very soon after the real life Uncle Andies kicked my country square in the dick, which soured the episode a bit for me. I've liked it better on rewatch. When Andy's hat moved, his hair looked a lot like Marty's. Maybe he and Marty (and by extension, Sour Cream and Steven) are related.

Stevenbomb (up to and including That Will Be All):

Spoiler:

The start required too many bad decisions to setup the plot. I understand Garnet not wanting to make Steven curious by mentioning Blue Diamond, but I don't know why they couldn't tell Steven that the Palanquin was where Rose shattered Pink D. He already knows that it happened; knowing where wouldn't be that big a deal. Maybe telling Steven something about his vision, with a warning that Greg would be in danger if he went without the Gems, would've been enough to get Steven to wait until the danger had passed.

In the past, Greg always tried to stay out of magic stuff altogether. Now he's taking Steven somewhere the Gems won't, without even asking the Gems why? I get that one of the show's main messages is the value of talking thorugh your problems, and this ep shows what happens when you don't. But, these decisions were practically out of character.

Also, leaving Peridot behind when she's the only one who knows how the ship works is just stupid. Lapis can throw an ocean at people. She is perfectly capable of defending Beach City alone. The only reason to leave Peridot behind was to setup ep 2's plot. I was a little bored by the 3rd and 4th episodes, but the last one made up for it.

The Amythyst prank was both funny and a good resolution to ep 4's cliffhanger. It was sweet that the Amythysts remembered the one that hadn't popped out, and welcomed her with open arms. Looks like there were some callbacks to Beta, too. The Carnelian who was glad not to be the shortest anymore was probably the one who came out sideways. The skinny Jasper must've come from the skinny hole CG Amythyst mentioned when pointing out the other odd holes. I don't think we saw "this mess", though.

Pearls' backup singing made the song sound like something from "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

Amythyst, Jasper, Carneian, and Rose Quartz are all different types of quartz, and all came from the Earth Kindergartens. A while ago, Peridot told Steven, "You're some kind of quartz, right? You must've been made here [Earth]." It looks like different planets produce different gem types, with Earth making quartz. Rose Quartz talked (and Yellow Diamond sang) about different gem types having different functions. Maybe colonizing other planets is the only way to expand the Gem race's skill set.

Stevenbomb and Adventure Time: Islands (bolded so you don't miss that these are Adventure Time spoilers in the SU thread):

Spoiler:

The Stevenbomb and the Adventure Time miniseries had a similar plot. The teenage protagonist and his 3 fantastic friends journey to a new place, where they find the boy's parent among a group humans sequestered for their own safety. Monday even had both shows air 1 ep of stake setting, followed by 1 ep of travel. The AT series was superior, probably the most I've enjoyed AT in years, and the SU series suffered by comparison.

I just couldn't care about the human zoo. The residents were so stunted that it was hard to think of them as characters. I guess that was the point, but that doesn't make it easier to feel anything for them. The residents of AT's island had least retained enough autonomy to run businesses.

[cephalopod9]

New 3 episode event!

I'm annoyed with the new schedule of putting out new episodes on the app before they air. Or maybe I'm worse than I thought at keeping track of when episodes air.

I really liked the color schemes we got. It's great when the show starts to look more like Rebecca Sugar's earlier work. Stuff gets intense.

spoilers for the Wanted arc, through season 5, ep. 4.

Spoiler:

New gems! Amy Sedaris!

poor Steven! trying to throw himself on a grenade for Everyone.
Poor Lars, terrified of everything.

The show is still struggling a fair bit with pacing. Even outside the release schedule, 80%-90% of major plot points are kind of just sitting on shelf (or in a bubble...) waiting for them to get back to it.
... Why didn't Aquamarine have any information from the Rubies? Does info move slowly on Homeworld or did no one want to listen to them?

[Zohar]

Weren't there four episodes?

Spoilers re: Lars' Head:

Spoiler:

Oh me yarm! Lion is a Rose-revived zombie! And Lars is one too! :O :O :O