The Pink Diamond Twist is Fine, and Here's Why (Steven Universe)

In the episode “A Single Pale Rose,” we finally learn the truth behind Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz. The twist was quite shocking, and sent waves across the Steven Universe fanbase. Whether you loved or hated the revelation, it certainly put the show back in the spotlight by shaking things up. In this video, I discuss my thoughts and feelings on Rose Quartz being Pink Diamond.
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Music is from the Steven Universe OST:
Steven Universe Ending Theme 2 (mixed by Phizzy)
Love Like You Instrumental (mixed by Phizzy)
Rose’s Room
Strawberry Battlefield
I’m Still Here
Rose Acoustic Theme

[@uncivilizedelk]

I come from the future, filled with regret! 5:39 The Diamonds did indeed "pull a Topaz." I did flip out. 8:29 At this part of the video, I said, "I'll gladly take that trade-off." I was referring to Rose Quartz becoming more interesting of a character at the expense of some events potentially "feeling like a cop-out because Steven can use his status as a diamond to progress certain plot points." I don't want that trade-off anymore! I take it all back! I recant!! Seriously though, I still think the twist was fine (when viewed as an isolated plot point from future events). All the heavy-hitting late-season SU problems weren't predicated on the RQ=PD twist, but rather those problems were a result of were poor writing choices further down in the show's timeline.

[@tabuu2914]

HIII IM THE FIRST TO COMMENT TO THIS

[@himynameisren7400]

The Diamond redemption arc was a big oof

[@IshRed]

big oof indeed

[@atharva8730]

They didn't pull out topaz just like that . If Steven wasn't a part of pink and purely rose then they would've not gone topaz even a bit . It's just that they r reassured that Steven is indeed reminiscent of pink . Diamonds r just selfish , they r not redeemed even if they look like they have ! I suggest u watch roundtable's vdo on why they r not redeemed

[@saintgabriel790]

i realize it is kinda off topic but do anybody know of a good site to stream newly released tv shows online ?

[@CocTheElf]

When Pink Diamond breaking the mirror foreshadows her "shattering" herself.

[@SirRebrl]

More literally, shattering the /image/ of herself.

[@billyphillips7981]

😦😵😄

[@brettd2308]

Yep. And even earlier, in the *second episode of the show* there's the very first image we ever see of Rose, where Steven shatters the picture frame with her picture in it in Greg's storage unit.

[@bigyeetmydudes5005]

@@brettd2308 and um Its in the shape of a diamond..

[@funny.gon-12]

honestly the twist didn't surprise me honestly Steven universe can take the sharpest turns and the older I get the more I liked piked up as hints I never would have thought about the cluster back in the s1 finale and got shocked about the whole mutant gem arc but later I easily piled pink dimond "shattering" back at the trial episode why would yellow want to make blue this way we badly knew anything about pink back then so you count say she had a problem with her and blues love for p.o. k made her far from being a candidate and white dimond wasn't even a thing back then so I didn't think about that so only pink dimond could have Kermit red suicide evidenced by jungle moon

[@aressfenus]

A Single Pale Rose also points out one little thing I just noticed, that's the only time I've seen Pearl transform into anything. There were previous episodes where she's playfully asked to change into something/someone, and she refuses. Apparently, she can do perfect copies so that's why she won't shift.

[@camdi8777]

I believe she’s just traumatized too (Another reason why she won’t shapeshift)

[@Marigold11037]

@Kiwi fruit oh my god I just came back to this video but that's freaking me out Additionally, she could hate food because she's grown a hatred of organic life (and therefore, human food) since rose loved it so much

[@bleh1569]

Maybe she's so good at it because she's a pearl she's supposed to look like her owner wants

[@Marigold11037]

@@bleh1569 god yeah, this is kind of proven by the movie too

[@bleh1569]

@@Marigold11037 yeah exactly lol

[@sketchingstudio5552]

OH MY GOSH so Steven started out as Pink Diamond. Childish, immature, wanting to go on missions with the other gems, wanting to be a Crystal Gem [Diamond]. As the series progressed, he became more mature and started to act not unlike the 'Rose Quartz' persona. Mature, wiser, more knowledgeable. He also made a lot of rash decisions in between. The parallels are endless ^_^

[@silvergryphon5858]

Oh wow... you're absolutely right!

[@nechma13]

And then fusing with a human

[@UniverseKeeper2]

Sketching Studio yes :D

[@BR1AN00]

N. J. Saroff yeah rose/steven, greg/connie and love/fusion the parallel is huge

[@david2869]

This is why I can't understand people that say PD must be selfish since she was selfish in "Jungle Moon". Both PD and Steven provide examples of someone outgrowing their childish selfish ways and taking on responsibility.

[@GIRGHGH]

Proof that even Gems can have Gemsonas.

[@3Katapa]

purple puma

[@kyleraccoon6195]

does that mean anthropomorphic animals have fursonas?

[@GIRGHGH]

They cat but as I conveyed through my wording, they "CAN" have them, it's not that they all "DO."

[@floofyowls8989]

GIRGHGH Aka Girg, Nice

[@lapisangstylazuli]

Kyle Raccoon my fursona has a fursona

[@mullent169]

I just want to point out the fact that during the events of "Steven's Dream" Greg tells Steven that Rose tried to tell him about her past and about all the horrible things she'd done, but Greg told her that none of it mattered, and that he loved her for who she was then. So we can probably assume that Rose felt so guilty about what she did, that she felt the need to tell Greg about her identity as Pink Diamond. Just think for a second how world shattering it is that Greg could have known about this the entire time, but shrugged it off because he loved her too much to care.

[@tinnasell4161]

And she thought that because he said that it did not matter then it truly didn't. And that's why chose to be silent until the end.

[@andyfox4484]

I think Pink never believed that the other Diamonds really cared about her, she must have believed that her death would just cause then to give up on the colony and go back, but they actually do cared deeply for her and decided to avenge her in the most cruel way they could. She did not expected that, im sure of it, she must have been really surprised by the other diamonds actions. I think that if she had thought they would do what they done she would never go on with her plan.

[@popburnsy3207]

NMD you could say the same for a fandom that can't accept that Rose clearly worked toward change, growth, and love. That, it's just going to take some more teasing out as to the why and what she was really aiming for

[@arellajardin2323]

Oh, definitely. The way they treated her, talked to her, she was convinced she was just a disappointment and failure in their eyes. In reality, her “death” effected them emotionally for 4 thousand years, still grieving in their own ways after all that time. In a way, it’s the additional failing of parents or older siblings not showing their love to their child or younger sister.

[@sephiriza]

>could not offer the same belief on the individual Diamonds Because Diamonds didn't show their love. In Jungle Moon she was ignored and treated like a nuisance, in the last scene of Can't Go Back BD silenced her and YD didn't even participate in the conversation and straight up looked away. Understanding that somewhere deep inside they care about her and love her but lack the ability to be more vocal about it requires quite a good amount of empathy... which not many normal people have, let alone an immortal being programmed to do a certain role.

[@melrowesilab357]

I agree with this.

[@AlexReynard]

Cripes, that reminds me of the mental state of suicidal people. "Nobody really cares! Once I'm gone, they'll be sorry!"

[@NoteBard]

I think my favorite recontextualization was in "It Could've Been Great" when everyone is walking up the stairs, Steven in front, and Peridot says: "We are literally walking in the footsteps of the Diamonds!"

[@patknack7368]

It's likely that Pink/Rose was forced to "grow up" once the rebellion became a serious thing. When it was just her and Pearl from Garnet's flashback, you can see the same giddiness from Single Pale Rose. When gems started dying for her cause, it would force her to take things more seriously and become the leader that the Crystal Gems needed. Some of her old self is still in there, but is covered by the need to be the pillar of strength of others. It might also be why she fell in love with Greg: he didn't need her to be a leader, he just needed her to be herself, something she couldn't afford to do around the Crystal Gems.

[@silvergryphon5858]

I agree. There was clearly a lot of time in between the Jungle Moon flashback and a lot of the Rose Quartz stuff- plenty of time for her to mature and develop a little. A lot of these analyses don't seem to take that into account and are coming off as kind of fractured as a result.

[@tialeweirdo1769]

I swear that Greg knew that she was a diamond the whole time...

[@alejandrogonzalez28]

Uncle granpa say to steven about his gem: " you should make sure to get this thing polished at least twice a year" Diamonds needs to be polished once or twice in a year. Great video, as usual!

[@Nu_Wen]

alejandro gonzalez zerda the more and more I hear about the uncle Grandpa episode, the more I'm convinced it is a canonical episode and they just said it wasn't to throw people off the dozens of clues they threw in it.

[@yomatokamari]

Onion gang basically outlined the backstory of pink diamond.

[@lucasmartinez5703]

And you pretty much explained why I don't write off any episode in this show as filler.

[@REALwoombath]

alejandro gonzalez zerda damn it sounds far fetched

[@princessthyemis]

alejandro gonzalez zerda holy crap.

[@Odyssey_Central]

In keep beach city weird at the very end Ronaldo said that the diamonds could take any form. I saw it yesterday and I was so shocked

[@madikay5292]

Odyssey Central IT ALL MAKES SENSE

[@kingmin9491]

Oh that why she stayed shapeshift for so long

[@lucasmartinez5703]

Hints and foreshadowing ALL over the place I swear.

[@TitaniumSalvage]

soulus prime Once a gem poofs, they can takr any form they want. Amethyst even turns into Pearl until she's poofed again in the episode with the Slinker.

[@chrisschoenthaler5184]

Titanium Salvage She turned into a ridiculous, over-the-top parody of Pearl.

[@nicholasmorgan7609]

Something I always found weird were some of Steven's (and by extension, Rose's) powers. I could accept healing, making Rose Quartzes field medics and floating, as that can have application on the battlefield too, but Quartzes are soldiers, so gem empathy, telepathy, body hopping, resurrecting organics and turning them into living portals and any other powers I may be forgetting seemed beyond those a quartz would have (especially that last one), so I had some suspicions Rose was more than just a Rose Quartz.

[@infiniteenigma1]

I always thought of it as a narrative way of the crew demonstrating how restrictive the mindset of Homeworld was by limiting a gem to a set path. Through being on Earth their powers broaden with their perspective. I feel they demonstrated this pretty well with peridot and her metal powers.

[@nicholasmorgan7609]

infiniteenigma1 I see what you mean by that, but body hopping and turning Lars and Lion into living portals seems beyond even that sort of, doesn't it?

[@jaybonn5973]

Im certain thats a complaint that was fixed by this episode, how the quartz lineage had unexplained power plot holes, and instead of Sugar sitting down and writing a fleshed out narrative, she thows in a cop out to safely walk around the thing that could prove her to be an incompetent writer, although it really doesn't matter, SU fans are eating this garbage up, how do I know? look at the ratings for this episode and compare it to the ratings of other SU episodes...

[@nicholasmorgan7609]

Castor Dergon Eh, maybe? I was never a fan of the Rose Quartz is pink diamond theory, but I rather liked them humanizing the diamonds, but I really wish they spent more time on that before the twist and didn't unintentionally make Rose seem awful, because the twist would have been better then. Instead, we got more stuff about the less interesting denizens of beach city, Crystal Gem slice of life antics, Lapidot pandering and Rose being rather poorly written instead of better buildup.

[@djmeagaaim17]

Castor Dergon Why do say that?

[@aiiiia9971]

Funny, Rose looked like the example of a Mary Sue at the start. Beautiful, smart, righteous, everyone around her loved her, and really... really overpowered. But deep down Steven seemed to know that there was more to his mother that he had to learn. He wanted to understand and know her on a personal level, not just hear stories of how great she was or of her valiant conquests. Now he finally gets a chance to peel back the layers of her character and see through the ruse. He gets to see her personality built up from the bottom. It makes her more real, and actually more human. It goes to show you, you have to see someone's flaws in order to truly see who they are. The sad thing is for just about the whole series Steven has been trying to pick up the peices of the story and sweep up the mess she left behind. It's always been about *her* . The entirety of Steven's role in his young life has been as "Rose's son", and to homeworld gems, he *is* Rose. I don't think Rose wanted this for Steven. She wanted to forget all about her past, she wanted Steven to be a fresh start and wanted him to have a new, fresh, human experience independent of the dark truths her past life. Instead it's the same crap, because she didn't tie all the loose ends yet. She was always running from her problems, and perhaps Steven turned out to be the one who actually had the gumption to tackle them.

[@dodiswatchbobobo]

Everybody always says that Rose was coded maternal, but truthfully, she never was. She was described as maternal, and every original Crystal Gem with the possible exception of Amethyst is coded maternal in different ways, and her lover Greg is a natural father (by the time Steven is born), but her? Never. The show is always very careful to show us when flashbacks can be trusted and when they've been stylized. Think of the first three Greg flashbacks. Rose is naive, fun-loving, short-tempered, and childishly fascinated with everything. The one time she had an onscreen opportunity to be maternal to baby Sour Cream, she let him climb a Ferris Wheel. Jungle Moon should have been the biggest hint that Pink was Rose. Not because of the memory, but because Pink Diamond acted like a child with no clue of what she was doing. Just like Rose.

[@lucasmartinez5703]

It's funny because when she let Sour Cream climb that Ferris wheel, she stated that it would be a "formative experience" for him. So in a way she was acting maternal since she thought that was for the baby's best interests while at the same time she didn't consider the danger for a baby in that situation.

[@kfrank9455]

The only time Rose was kinda maternal was when she made the video for Steven, however that can be disputed because she also made a video for Nora (if she had a girl) . She wasn’t interested in being with her child she was more captivated in creating something new, just as she did when she became Rose Quartz.

[@thifanny7298]

"if Blue and Yellow pull a Topaz on us, I am going to flip out" oh dear im so sorry

[@mmmmmm6998]

But they didnt. They are just putting on a masquerade to get steven to come live with them, they will most likely have a full redemption arc in the last season

[@samburton3410]

@@mmmmmm6998 Well this didn't age well.

[@mmmmmm6998]

@@samburton3410 😳😳😳😳😳

[@hamjuice345]

Oopsie daisy

[@roryhawkins8414]

Rose could've grown emotionally the same way Steven did, from only wanting to see a giant woman, to having the emotional maturity to help reconcile Greg and pearl

[@aylinitzel.]

“Handled with delicacy and care, and not be rushed” lmao their redemption arc was lame

[@makes58]

They arent redemned.

[@someonessidechannel1485]

They _are not_ redeemed. As of right now, they're barely doing the absolute minimum to make Steven happy, because they still see him as Their Pink. They aren't actively making their own choices to change for the better, to *be* better, they're just following the words of their obsession. In two years, they really couldn't come up with some public apology? Instead they write some lame children's book and twist the past to make it seem all happy and cheery all the time? They aren't redeemed. I highly doubt that even by the end of s6 they'd be redeemed. They're terrible people, and they have no will, little reason, to change their base morals.

[@HellishSpoon]

I started internally laughing once he said that With a level of glee

[@samburton3410]

@@someonessidechannel1485 Lol this comment didn't age well either.

[@kirbyfazendoummoonwalk9214]

@@samburton3410 why? The Diamonds redemptiom was still forced and very shitty lol

[@Lazypackmule]

"There were problematic aspects about how Bismuth was handled" I don't know, I think it was pretty neat that it got the tumblr portion of the fanbase to flip their shit at the crewniverse because they actually agreed with Bismuth that murder is the answer to political issues, and the story going for the opposite moral pissed them off

[@hellspawnstudios]

Ha ha, yep. Making Tumblr flip out was probably the entire point.

[@qunrcm591]

Honestly. Just because the show has some different morals than you (death is never the answer, love conquers all) you're allowed to disagree with it, but it's not a bad show just because you don't agree with some of the morals. Tumblr seems to forget that. 🙄

[@BOFAMET]

It's perfectly acceptable to murder genocidal dictators.

[@qunrcm591]

@@BOFAMET Nobody was saying it wasn't

[@NapaCat]

​@@qunrcm591 Bismuth wanted to shatter Homeworld 'elites', whatever that means, not just Diamonds. Diamonds, Beryls, and Garnets all were likely in the scope of 'elites'. Maybe even Topazes too.

[@carlahunter4356]

They’ve been building up to this.

[@jaybonn5973]

for the past 3 years................... . . .

[@popburnsy3207]

Castor Dergon not really building during the hiatuses

[@jaybonn5973]

thhats what I mean, so how long is a steven bomb say 5 episodes? I dont actually know, now if SU were to run like a normal tv series, thats 5 weeks flushed down the toilet to cram it into one, so by that logic, each bomb is technically a months worth of episodes, and I and most other episodic shows with a normal release schedule (thats the word) would consider that building to a climax. SU just condenses it

[@Protendo]

Steven By Gem Law Owns The Earth. Just let that sink in.

[@theshamanite]

Yeah, especially within the last dozen episodes.

[@Hakajin]

I mean, I do see logistical problems with the twist (like with the gem shape), but... But thematically, it WORKS. I originally hated the theory that Rose didn't have anything to do with Pink Diamond's shattering, because it would undo the strong themes about Steven coming to see his mother as a flawed person. He went through a lot coming to terms with her mistakes, especially since she's such a big part of him. He had to make some difficult decisions, too, and, though it wasn't explicitly stated, it was implied that he felt that maybe he was bad because his mother was bad. That's some weighty material, and to see it all invalidated with, Turns out she was perfect, after all! would've seemed like such a waste. This, though? The implications of what Rose actually did are even worse than we thought! Now, it almost feels like what Steven went through before was preparing him, getting him to work through his connection to his mother, before the shit really hit the fan. I feel the same about this making Rose a lot more interesting. I don't think she understood other people and their feelings enough to make the right choices. She was like a child who has an under-developed sense of empathy. In fact... I think that's why she became Steven. In flashbacks, she talked about how, while gems are what they were made to be forever, humans change and grow. I think she felt that in order to help right the wrongs she'd caused, she'd have to be able to do that, too, and the only way to do that was Steven.

[@satya4234]

Hakajin That makes sense. I also think she was like a child, with the ups and downs that implies.

[@jaybonn5973]

Sorry what side are you arguing, first you talk about how the theory works, then immediately say its ridiculous, and the prove why it isnt?

[@Hakajin]

Huh? I was talking about assumptions I made before the reveal, and it turned out to be more complex.

[@princessthyemis]

Hakajin that is PHENOMANLLY brilliant!!!!!

[@melrowesilab357]

Dude, you nailed that. You freaking said the words I've been wanting to say.

[@ordanarymods4990]

From the song Peace and Love on the Planet Earth. "Life and death and love and birth" All things that Pink Diamond did. Additionally, she is responsible for both the peace and the war on the planet earth.

[@flental6708]

_Is there anything that's worth more than peace and love on the planet Earth?_

[@Jake.Miller]

People seemed to love the fact that Garnet was a different person (TWO different people, actually), but it seems weird to me that having Rose be a different person is the worse thing ever to some people. Especially when both of these ideas seem to be planned from the beginning.

[@Missdigitallycrazed]

Well, to be fair, Garnet was a different kind of "different." And Garnet never lied to anyone about who she was because she didn't need to. And the only reason why she kept it a secret from Steven was so she could tell him on his birthday (And "Jailbreak" came and ruined that plan, lol.) Rooose, on the other hand. She literally lied to everyone and COMMANDED (Not asked, but commanded) Pearl to keep it a secret for thousands of years... Not saying I think Rose is an absolute evil person, but she's definitely not on the moral high ground here... and I can understand why people feel the way they do about her.

[@Jake.Miller]

Ok, what I meant was that the TWIST makes sense, and it was a good twist. Rose is supposed to be controversial, she lied and tricked her way into a rebellion without ever telling the truth. She IS a bar person. I’m just trying to say that the twist that she’s a bad person is a good, well-though out twist.

[@Missdigitallycrazed]

Oh yeah, definitely. I never expected for that theory to come back into fruition and...actually make sense, lol..... by the way... I have a theory that White Diamond is secretly training up an army of Sneeple (Snake people) >.> Don't @ me on that, tho XD

[@someonessidechannel1485]

Because people never like seeing someone they love, adore, and even idolize, turn out to have never been fit for that pedestal in the first place. When Rose/PD was revealed to be a liar, selfish, and reckless, causing numerous unneeded deaths and *centuries* of war so she could have her little planet safe, we realized (along with the characters) that Rose was never fit for any pedestal. She was never a model leader, perfectly grounded and born to love, *never* the moral compass they saw her as. The difference is that some people are incapable of moving on. While our Crystal Gems fought, argued, debated, and repressed their feelings about this reveal, they eventually decided "it's in the past." They'd come this far, they may as well step up and be better than ever. They're allowed to have fond memories. They're also allowed to be angry. But they were able to accept the facts and *Move. On.*

[@alexandraluster284]

I don't see Steven as a "Chosen One", more like, a garbage man. His destiny is literal just to clean up every mess that his mother ever made. That's literally it, every single villain of the series is only a villain because of Rose/Pink. Steven was right, he now just has to deal with the mess that she left behind.

[@jasdanvm3845]

Wrong, the Diamonds, heck, most of the Homeworld gems would have still been "villainous" even if Pink Diamond never had existed, imagine if they discovered and came to Earth 6000 years later than in the original timeline, they would hhave sent a full invasion, massacred the human armies and any form of resistance, and then sucked the planet dry of any substance for supporting life, before they tore it appart and left it like that, or built a cosmic parking lot in it's place.

[@longtail4711]

I was not a subscriber to the Rose-is-Pink theory and I thought on the off-chance that it was correct, I probably wouldn't enjoy it very much. I was very surprised at the reveal, and even more surprised at how I feel about it. I can't really say I love or hate this twist in general. I'm kind of feeling "Oh, we're going in this direction now? OK then." I'm more interested to see where the Crewniverse is taking us next with this development than I am in what I think and feel about it...which I consider a sign of good storytelling. The second thing that's surprised me is how the reveal went down just made me fall head over heels for the character of Rose in ways I never felt towards her character before. I absolutely love her complexity and how beautifully realistic of a person she is with all her virtues and flaws. She's a well-written allegory for humanity. Well played, SU. You did not disappoint.

[@NikkiTheViolist]

On the other hand, I was thinking it was the case since I started watching, but I was dreading the reveal because I thought it would be terrible and ruin the show for me. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. This video explained why the reveal was better than I thought.

[@raylynn9886]

longtail4711 i feel just like you. "Ok this is what's happening...?"

[@unmellowthegamer8946]

just same except i liked the reavel in it of itself

[@acrappyartist7262]

Won't love her so much after knowing about spinel

[@buggart]

@@acrappyartist7262 well... considering that happened BEFORE she was given a colony, it is understandable that she still viewed gems as objects like the other diamonds do...

[@sarah2cold377]

one thing that's always bothered me in this series that's been answered from the reveal, is how exactly did rose manage to rescue garnet and pearl from the gem corruption light. i mean did it ever really make sense that an ordinary (gem wise) rose quartz would be able to defend against an attack from the diamonds? her also being a diamond finally explains how she was able to block their attack now.

[@Oban2006]

Sarah2Cold It's a plot hole

[@sarah2cold377]

it'd only be a plot hole if there was no answer for it. her being a diamond perfectly explains it

[@dangerislander]

Plus that shield is mighty powerful!! It could stop the Fire Barrage attack from Peri's ship in season 1

[@uorimoon]

I know this is a few months old, but it has been shown in previous episodes that Steven's shield can reflect light and sound. The attack from the Diamonds is a light/sound attack, causing corruption to those that hear and see it, so the shield did protect them from the corruption. So less of a plot hole.

[@jamieohjamie]

I also HATE Chosen One stories. But I think this one makes sense, because Rose literally had him because she thought he could achieve things that she couldn't. "You're going to be something extraordinary; you're going to be a human being." I think Rose didn't have a baby just for the hell of it; she will still be around long after Steven's biological body dies. I think she wanted Steven to heal the rift between the Crystal Gems and Homeworld by doing what gems have time and time again failed to understand: That "people" (i.e.: both humans and gems) can change their way of thinking/their roles/etc. My thoughts, anyway. I think, in this case, it narratively makes sense for Steven to be a Chosen One because it isn't arbitrarily thrust upon him and was sort of established that he was special from the start of the show, being the only human-gem hybrid.

[@settheshallow8913]

It’s just that Bismuth has a pricy VA

[@NinjaTyler]

Seth De Shallow which is why we'll never see sugalite again because the crew don't think things out well with VAs

[@dylansimpson7831]

@@NinjaTyler I know you made this comment ages ago, but I'm revisiting some of these videos after diamond days. I don't think they didn't think out the VA but saw it as an amazing opportunity to get Nicki Minaj on the show, even if she would be really difficult to get on again

[@NinjaTyler]

@@dylansimpson7831 well they didn't think it out because they should've used her on a one off character instead of a powerful fusion that could've helped the gang many times but due to her insane cost means we will never see her again probably, the show has had this issue with bismuth and others too, shoot for a big name actress but then can't use that character again for months or years even if it makes no sense for the story. (like why wouldn't they have brought bismuth back immediately and had the other gems talk to her and work it all out?)

[@Schaemia]

Couldn't they just get a voice impersonator? :/

[@Snowmity]

It wasn’t Rose’s sword that killed Pink Diamond. It was Greg’s sword 😉

[@user-zf6go7hn9o]

I see what you did here.

[@yasminitarestuadinda9605]

After lastest episode.... that joke more even canon

[@nevercallmebyname]

The real reason this is the best twist ever: Literally no two people can agree on whether it's good or bad. It's the first time our voices have been so different. Two people might like it but they disagree on why its good. Two people might hate it but they disagree on why it's bad. Two people might agree on what worked and what didn't but one hates it and the other loves it. Previously everyone has just agreed with the most popular person to have an opinion but this twist has everyone disagreeing with everyone. I LOVE that because it means everyone is actually forming their own opinion. Rebecca Sugar is the cure for group think.

[@Oban2006]

SheTheTDE that's not a good reason, fail

[@sanddry738]

I don’t personally think that having something be so split on opinion automatically makes it a good thing. It can either go in any way. But I think what makes the surprise work is that it’s not something where you can say Rebecca and the rest of the crew pulled out of their asses the last second. There’s obviously been a lot of foreshadowing about it.

[@Error404fucknickname]

Meta-opinion splitting maximum!

[@Chameleonred5]

Breaking the fanbase apart doesn't make it a good twist. It just breaks the fanbase apart.

[@clorbdorb1245]

Y'all, disagreeing with them won't mean anything because that's??? Their point???

[@Missdigitallycrazed]

My two cents: I feel like Rose is the physical manifestation of the philosophy that Rebecca is trying to express with this show. That there's no pure evil or no pure good, even the seemingly good people can have their bad sides and the seemingly bad people can have their good sides. Heck, this is even shown through the implied rivalry between Jasper and Rose. Jasper is portrayed as a bad person, when really she wanted to avenge someone she looked up to very much (God, it feels weird mentioning this now--) . Rose is portrayed as a good person, when really she made a selfish and reckless decision and got many gems shattered in an all-out war. I know there are many opinions about these characters out there already, I'm mostly going off of how the show itself portrays them.

[@joao4321neto]

Everyone said “the chest inside of lion is probably is pink diamond’s shards” now that we know that pink diamond is rose. Then what is inside of the chest

[@davimatheusbetim9046]

Can't believe someone could take all my thoughts about the twist and put it on a video

[@sarabellum7938]

Your discussion of Rose's cowardice has made me respect Peridot's action in Message Received all the more. It seems that Peridot may have been the first gem to directly suggest keeping the Earth around to the diamonds by point of logic. Of course, by then, it was too little, too late, and Yellow was never going to consider the value of the organic life that had destroyed her family.

[@brianbrush5107]

Sara Bellum she was never gonna value it at all yellows phone call in thw flashback had her say "of course there's alien life on that planet its an invasion" her Tryng to openly defend the earth would be like telling someone they cany build a house somewhere because there's bugs in it all pinks shattering did was make her want to blow up earth rather them colonize it.

[@Jacquer68]

I find it interesting that, apparently, Rose's maturity was learned on Earth, whereas her more narcissistic tendencies come from her Gem upbringing. Is this because she was royalty? Was it just her youth? Or is the nature of Earth as a place of constant change the cause?

[@princessebalang3137]

That was a beautiful statement.

[@jasdanvm3845]

All of the above.

[@GalaxyCloud]

You: I hope the diamonds don't pull a topaz on us Steven Universe: *Its free real estate*

[@SilverMoonArtz]

This is definitely my favorite review of this episode! Also, what if Pink Diamond’s rose quartz soldiers were involved in the disguise plan, and when the time came that Pink planned to shatter herself, she decided to bubble her rose quartz soldiers and keep them in the Zoo to protect them of what could potentially happen to them after a rose quartz shattered Pink. And, just like the humans she had kept in the Zoo, they had planned to go back for them, but didn’t have a ship to do so.

[@10trapiche]

SilverMoon 718 hey brother

[@psionichelmsman]

The Zoo shows the Rose Quartz gems in blue bubbles, indicating that Blue Diamond herself bubbled them.

[@tomatoo2486]

Petalbook Interactive No they are in Pink bubble.

[@UniverseKeeper2]

SilverMoon 718 possibly!

[@user-zf6go7hn9o]

I am sorry to insult you but....are you color blind?

[@matsuato9415]

Rewatching the series, In the flashback fusion episode Greg asks Rose is she misses her homeworld, Rose replies "never" This doesn't make sense because throughout the series Rose was said to be made on Earth.

[@acidpatch5075]

I feel like I’m one of the view people who still like Rose/PD despite the reveal. Maybe because I sympathize (hope that’s the word) because yes, she acted childish but in the way a teenager makes rash decision when put on to a pedestal that they’re not ready for, and considering the whole gems on dont really change thing, PD was probably never going to act like a real diamond. Yes she asked for a colony, but teenagers ask for a lot of irrational things. So saying she’s completely at fault here is dumb in my opinion. However, she does need to take responsibility, which she shows by her trying to fix the corrupted gems in the CG base. IDK, people can have their own thoughts on different characters but I just feel like the hate (and sometimes really extreme) hate on Rose is understandable but at the same time, not very understanding. Edit: Just wanted to add before anything, this comment isn’t necessarily on the video, but the whole “PD controversy” and how people reacted to it

[@jamiezaragoza9388]

Acidic Reflexes yeah, I still love Rose after this, I’ll just be looking at her in a different way now. I’m just worried that the Crystal gems are all gonna hate her now

[@acidpatch5075]

Jamie Zaragoza yes! I’m actually really worried that’s the route we’re going is “reject Rose/PD and forget her completely”, like Steven seems to be the only one (excluding the diamonds) that really has a good understanding on it

[@jamiezaragoza9388]

Acidic Reflexes I’m just worried cause with this reveal Rose won’t be seen as kind or compassionate ever again, cause at times when someone’s true colors are revealed, people only focus on the bad things that they have done, like all the good just went down the drain

[@Shadowfan5371]

I enjoyed how the build up of the show leading to the twist revealed Rose to have more layers than the image that she was originally portrayed by the other characters described her. It definitely made her more interesting to me.

[@deffdefying4803]

"If the Diamonds pull a Topaz on us... I'm going to flip out." Welp that didn't age well

[@DumasP]

"i hope the diamonds can be handled with care and not rushed and unbelievable" welp i've got some news for you

[@a-shanda-productions]

The point is that Rose’s legacy amounts to nothing but manipulation and a failed rebellion. Steven is the chosen one, but not because of his lineage, it’s because of his abilities as a leader.

[@redpilledhispanic1239]

I wouldn't say failed, the earth still exists

[@a-shanda-productions]

NMD I’m not saying that he’s not the chosen one, I’m saying that he’s not the chosen one because of his lineage

[@jaybonn5973]

Uh, no its explicitly said to be a failed rebellion, can't argue with canon

[@a-shanda-productions]

Castor Dergon I would count practically every gem being shattered or corrupted as a failed rebellion

[@jaybonn5973]

Your assumption might be correct, as for execution, Sugar will most likely find a way to walk around that issue, because thats what she always does, either with pointless moping, reflexive complexes, or some other easy light hearted no consequence event. Chosen one stories are really boring, never write one because that implies the chosen one is bound to win no matter what obstacles are placed, thus no suspension and a story with no suspension is a story that should just die out, and thats basically what Sugar has been doing for the past 3 years. Lastly happy endings :D You cannot ever have a happy ending without some sort of depressing after thought, or the acknowledgement of the sacrifices it took to get said happy ending, Undertale for example, While yes everyone made it out safely and can come and go whenever they please, Flowey cant, its a sacrifice he made for the greater good, which if your a human being, is sad. That said, for a happy moment to be memorable, that sad moments actually have to MEAN SOMETHING, in SU they do not, in the slightest... Why? because for pretty much every other episode someone is crying, or moping, or having a ridiculous guilt complexes that doesn't resolve to anything, until like 2 seasons later, STILL LOOKING AT YOU PINK DIAMOND ROSE........ A movie that balances this is Up, I dont need to explain why you can either look it up yourself or you already know, Im just doing it cause this comment is long enough, and a movie that fails miserably in this balancing act of sadness and happiness is pretty much everything from contemporary DCEU, aside from WW. Over Sarcastically Podcast made a video about Realism and Angst and all that so I suggest checking them out for an in depth look at the subject. It really amounts to everything Ive already said, whe you have too much depressing vibes, most of which are unwarranted, it looses all meaning, and vice versa. SU is one of those shows where you will most likely end up hating it by season 12, which will only have 3 major story lines at this rate EHEM.... And if at the end you still think the series is good and still believe it was a masterpiece, and that you weren't being starved for content, then you honestly deserve better, that or you need a wake up call,

[@MexicanDragon2000]

Greg is the ultimate Chad.

[@djmeagaaim17]

The Sleepy Armadillo Chad?

[@overgrowthj4612]

Greg killed a diamond with his dick

[@chaddfrancis2179]

What's a Chadd?

[@rillafy7966]

chad is the name given by the internet to those very cool dudes getting all the chicks and goes to all the parties

[@chaddfrancis2179]

Hmmm🤔

[@nickrondinelli1402]

I actually have been thinking this for a long time; I thought since they said pink diamond was shattered because I was like "well, we haven't really ever seen them both in the same place? Couldn't they be the same person? Isn't that why no one else is pink?"

[@jaybonn5973]

Its not a character problem, it was a story telling problem that rebecca never actually bothered to write

[@djmeagaaim17]

Night PhoeNick's Productions Actually, it does need to be explained how Pink Diamond was able to run her colony, and the rebellion at the same time without getting caught.

[@jaybonn5973]

Not that part, its clear Rebecca never wrote an adequate episode on what to do with the Pink diamond arch, Pink diamond running her colony and the rebellion dont need to be explained because its been hinted at for a number of episodes, repeating what we already know, and again rebecca only did this because she likely didnt know what to do Actually now that I think about it, it wouldn't surprise me if rebecca did all this so she could use fan theories instead of writing her story, that or her writing for SU is so predictable, even fans already know whats gonna happen, (except lars, but then again no one likes lars) maybe thats what makes rebecca a non adequate write.

[@Chemeleon15]

djmeagaaim17 As Blue said in the moonbase flash back, she doesn’t even have to be there. She can tell her subjects to do something and they’ll continue to do it for hundreds of years. She just has to show strength in her commands and they’ll never question it.

[@Ekigane]

To be fair, in the episode where Pearl found out that Rose/Pink was keeping secrets from her, Garnet said that Rose kept secrets from everyone in the rebellion and was often gone.

[@akivajacobs7090]

Also this reveal explains Steven's super strength, and electric outbursts. Yellow diamond used electricity so I guess all diamonds have electricity powers

[@jaybonn5973]

Not really, that was a storytelling issue from the get go, this is more of a retcon

[@adamdtankiewicz9753]

Umm, which electric outbursts? I don't remember any?

[@melrowesilab357]

Adam Dtankiewicz I think their referring on that time Steven turned off the TV with his outburst when he saw Amethyst shapeshifting into his mom.

[@LadySunami]

It isn't a retcon. This was a planned plot point from the get go.

[@bingoenormousname]

what if she did tell the other diamonds, but they interpreted it as her wanting toys trophies, leading them to invest in the creation of the human zoo, the construction of which could've been unknown to pink

[@rhaeven]

Turns out you were right, have a cookie

[@exoticcats6119]

Nice job

[@DKannji]

The foreshadowing was hinted from the first time we see rose. Every gem in the show has eyes matching the color of their gem, and yes, even Amethyst. The only gems that have purely black eyes are Rose quartz and the 6 gem fusion. I love that looking back I notices that they placed clues in something so symbolic as eyes.

[@alleyway8627]

Danni Jensen Ruby has black eyes.

[@Golden-hl4ix]

"I just hope the diamonds don't have a topaz moment" Uhhhhh

[@shannonf101]

Wow this is probably one of the best analysis on rose so far ! With you considering a lot of the past episodes rather than picking and choosing like a few other KZbinrs seam to be doing on this subject.

[@thewrenley]

It makes sense for me. I kinda called Rose being Pink, because there were things like "How did Rose's sword shatter Pink Diamond if it can't?" as the show told us before it can only poof gems, but not the gem itself. I think either Pearl or Garnet said she used her sword to shatter a diamond, so I got confused and did some digging. It now makes sense for the episode "Steven on Trail" (or something) where Steven's lawyer had a good point of Pearl not crying out to save her diamond. Idk about you, but this twist is fine with the series. Some people spent so long investing in another answer, having discarded the thought Rose could be Pink long ago, that they felt betrayed and tried to come up with ways that the twist was rash. I understand that, but as you said, this twist was planned long ago. I love this series.

[@normal6483]

My favorite hint that Rose was Pink Diamond is her shield. If you look at the new Diamond logo (the one we saw first) you'll see that the Diamonds are all represented by triangles. Meanwhile, Rose's shield and flag represent her with a pink triangle. That was what first led to the Rose = Pink Diamond theory back in season 1, when Yellow Diamond was revealed. Rose has been Pink Diamond since episode 1, and the fact that the very next episode in Laser Light cannon had some foreshadowing adds to this plot twist even more. I don't like how CN is delaying the release of so many episodes, but I do really respect Rebecca Sugar's dedication to holding back this twist for so long. It'd be better if it got to happen at the pace she intended it to happen at, but I'm not gonna blame the creator for problems caused by the network.

[@nerdandnerdier887]

Blue diamonds sadness takes on a new meaning it’s not just the death of a child it’s the belief that your actions directly lead to your child’s death pd told them she wanted to leave for the rebellion but bd said act like a diamond and take care of this and show yourself to your gems so now bd believes that if she only believed pd she would be alive

[@thefinalfrontear]

I remember ages ago when I got into SU, I was huge into the “Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond” theory. I read quite a few posts about why it was impossible, and eventually stopped believing in it. When “A Single Pale Rose” came out, I lost my shit. I rocketed back into theory mode so fast it was incredible.

[@tipsy634]

really good episode, pearl's part in it was spectacular, and the way it recontextualizes the ENTIRE SERIES has done more to revitalize my interest than even The Vault did for adventure time.

[@DemonicRemption]

Unicivilized Elk:"I hoping the diamond fiasco will be handled with care and not be rushed and unbelievable." *Me after seeing your video on Reunited* Well, no wonder you reacted the way you did in that video. They did what you hoped they wouldn't do.

[@Neverhoodian]

I consider Steven's changing perception of Rose throughout the show as a metaphor to how many people view their own parents and childhood heroes. We start off all idealistic and naive with our admiration of them, placing them on impossible pedestals as perfect in every way. Then we reach adolescence and come to see their sins and foibles, often bringing about a sudden onset of disillusionment and cynicism. Eventually however we come to have a more balanced and mature outlook, acknowledging their flaws while still appreciating their positive aspects.

[@eljenhudson7834]

Wow wonderfully put

[@PrimetimePaskell]

thank you for having a perspective other than that this was a horrible thing. I saw nothing but videos saying this was a horrible thing for the week after the premiere, but no one looked at it without attacking the morality of Rose. I do have issues with the visual continuity lapse, that's a problem they could have dealt with better. But this path is an understandable one and making Rose out to be something different than what she was originally characterized as is a much deeper approach to the show. One shouldn't be hung up on the morality of a character especially when their effect on the show is their legacy on the world.

[@arellajardin2323]

I’ve seen a few supporters. Reaction youtubers were mostly positive about the twist and the character. I think The Virtual Celebrity did three videos gushing about it.

[@PrimetimePaskell]

i apparently wasn't seeing those then, thanks for the heads up, ill have to go back and look at more of those.

[@arellajardin2323]

Here’s what annoys me the most, though. Many of the negative videos focused so heavily on being mad at the twist, and passing moral judgement, that they not only forgot facts and aspects we knew from over 5 seasons of lore, but some even dismissed those facts because they were inconvenient to being mad! I’m not bragging, but in the following weeks, there were several times where I (just some fan with too much time on her hands) posted in the comments with more references to past episodes, and analysis, than the people who ran Analysis Channels! I was just over on another channel that was wondering how Pink held the form of Rose for so long, and they offhandedly brushed over mass being important to shapeshifting. I pointed out 4 different episodes where mass and size were specifically the limitation. They just want this to be wrong. “It’s soft magic, it’s weak storytelling. It doesn’t work.” It actually does work! Why am I putting more effort into this than people making money doing the same thing?

[@satya4234]

One part of the fandom is saying that PD did a poorly decision because she's dumb and childish, and another part is saying she was selfish and evil. I don't agree with the "evil" part but i do believe you can be selfish and childish. Kids are generally selfish. What bothers me is I can't think of her as a child, yeah she might've been a relatively new diamond, but even Pearl wasn't sure the plan was the best way to go. You really have to be inexperienced and immature to take the decision she took. That's the culmination of her story arc. She was mostly childish, which also explains her being in constantly awe and amazement towards the life on Earth. Kids are like that too! They are amazed by so many things we take for granted. In the other hand, she was a bit insightful and critic of her own society wich is not very common. She was a bit noble because she had principles. She makes a good rebel leader. One would hope for an adult "better" leader who would make the "best" decision, instead we got a child leader, which is nice but not ideal. This is my way to reconcile myself with the Rose's/Pink Diamond's character arc. I didn't like it the first time I watched the episode, but after thinking about it a bit more, I do.

[@duykhangtran4406]

Yeah, so do i.

[@satya4234]

Brillobreaks She still went to war. So... she didn't have much of a choice, but she could've fought as a diamond, she could've spoken out to her sisters Yellow and Blue, she was making up excuses instead of saying how she truly felt about the planet. We don't have to agree in what was the best decision, I just wanted to point out what a lot of people are saying and where I stand on the subject.

[@lucasmartinez5703]

I think it was her only choice that she had in a series of "just as bad if not worse" options. If she fought as a Diamond, not only would that have stacked the odds incredibly high against her (her very small army against Blue, Yellow, and White's massive armies) but it would have also defeated a major purpose of the rebellion (to give gems the freedom to think for themselves and choose what they want to fight for instead of being led to do whatever by a Diamond as usual). And if she tried speaking honestly with the Diamonds, it's entirely possible that they wouldn't really have cared how she felt about the Earth and just concluded she was being overly attached and take her off the colonization project and doom the Earth anyway. Either option was probably way too risky and pointless compared to what she ended up doing. I think she made the best decision she could have made at the time that resulted in the least possible damage (even though the rebellion came at a high price anyway). She just didn't fully consider how bad things could get before it was too late. The biggest thing being that she had no idea just how much her staged shattering would cause her Diamond sisters to suffer. And even that's not fully her fault considering Blue and Yellow did a very poor job showing her just how much they really loved her as is implied in the Can't Go Back and Jungle Moon flashbacks where she was treated as either a nuisance or a baby with no real control over anything.

[@satya4234]

Lucas Martinez You're over analyzing things. She just rushed into things, her judgment wasn't completely right. She did have other options, you said it, all of them had possibly bad outcomes, and what she chose was not the best option. Fighting as a diamond would've been a disadvantadge, right, but fighting as a crystal gem was even more of a disadvantage, it did a whole lot of damage, and we can only speculate about what would've happened but what really happened was not so good. They didn't win the war, the diamonds just gave up on triying to take over the Earth because they thought that the only thing they were fighting for, which was Pink Diamond, was gone. I agree that fighting as a diamond would've defeated the whole purpose of the rebellion and the possibility of the gems to choose, but she didn't gave the crystal gems much of a choice, either they were fighting for a persona who wasn't who she said she was or they fought against her thinking they were fighting for their diamond, who actually was the rebel leader. Think of Jasper. That is the most clear consequence of her lies. Anyway, agree to disagree.

[@lucasmartinez5703]

I didn't say her judgement was completely right. Her choice still led to severe consequences. I'm just saying that the position she was in was very complicated and their were factors that led to her doing what she did which is why I think she did the best she could. She thought she had things under control, but (to her horror probably) she didn't and that makes her very tragic to me. But even though a lot of bad came out of it, some good came out of it too. And I still say they would have had less of a choice if she were Pink Diamond since they would have had to follow orders. As Rose Quartz, they chose to follow her on their own out of their own free will.

[@marlowmorbid8531]

I don't think bismuth will be mad at Rose/Pink, necessarily. I think she will suddenly realize exactly why Rose never wanted to shatter any gems. they were *hers*. so many of the gems fighting were probably under Pink's command.

[@popburnsy3207]

Marlow Morbid I feel like this is missing the point, that shattering/killing in and of itself would be wrong regardless of whose Gems were being shattered

[@jaybonn5973]

Thanks for reminding me, this make that whole Bismuth episode a time waster.

[@arellajardin2323]

No, it gives the Bismuth episode even more tragedy. Even if we assume Pink’s gems weren’t shattering rebels, Blue and Yellow’s were. Regardless, Bismuth’s friends were getting shattered, and Rose refused to retaliate in kind. Now knowing Pink Rose manipulated the war to being just to have an excuse to leave Earth, her friend’s deaths are even more horrific. I think gems like Bismuth and Jasper, who poured everything into fighting for their respective sides, should be outraged.

[@BEATSofDevil]

They'd only be as outraged as much as they disregard organic life on earth. Which was the very important reason why PD decided to "shatter" herself.

[@TheJamieKeely]

And also she doesn't want to get herself shattered 😂

[@silvertongue-242_99]

Actually I think rose is very immature and seems closer to pink diamond personality seen when we actually see flashbacks of Greg and her. I think see can put on a face of leadership and maturate with her leadership

[@jaybonn5973]

rose is a terrible character who never takes responsibilty for her actions, It wouldnt suprise me if rebcca said she saw a lot of herself in rose when designing her, or I drew on a lot of my experiences when creating rose

[@silvertongue-242_99]

Castor Dergon 😂😂😂😂 probably I know she's horrible but I mean I didn't like rose when she was all loved like a perfect being

[@heyitspoppy6321]

Castor Dergon rebbaca literally said rose/pink is a horrible person.

[@crispri3919]

Castor dragon seriously needs to get therapy. In every single comment chain bashing rebecca with rude insults, and being over the top dramatic. Everyone can tell they were wrong about the pd theory and is just salty.

[@spokoju8199]

Greg is truly the most tragic character in the show - so madly in love with someone really uncapable of it he still can't see that many years after she's no longer there. We all know he will gie lying to himself she was a good person.

[@acowinthebarn3312]

>white diamond might be the final villain yeah for like...3 days tbh the finale was bitter sweet. I twas really sweet but it was...................a bit rushed

[@rowan8383]

acowinthebarn it was rushed, but they had a deadline for it they weren't really able to do much.

[@tuttosansbazuko]

"I hope they don't trow a topaz" *all the show does is solving its problems as they did with topaz*

[@azurastar3223]

One phrase comes to mind when thinking about Rose Quartz. The deleted phrase from Zootopia "transpecies" Rose Quartz never wanted to reveal the truth, because she viewed herself as something other than a Diamond. And eventually became a human hybrid. Its not that she was running from responsibility she was running from a life she never wanted the same as any other crystal gem, but being a diamond made leaving her role far harder than it was for any other gem. Yes, she withheld the truth from everyone out of fear because diamonds were viewed so harshly in kind. To truly be free of her role, to find her own place among her kind, a role she chose for herself, and not be judged for her status she had to become something else, she had to become Steven. Steven was her way of leaving the shackles of Pink Diamond behind for good. Now her future is truly in her hands. At least that is my opinion

[@Canido19]

My favorite part of this reveal is the fact that, we now are in a position where we must explore not just the post-mortem character development of Rose Quartz, but also that of Pink Diamond. Where does one end and the other begin, really? Obviously the Rose persona was a thing for a LONG time before the "shattering," but people who tend to dislike this reveal and claim that Rose/Pink is evil or else worthy of the title of "villain" seem to forget that gems are not immune to Character Development, and we still haven't seen the whole story yet. For all we know, Rose's relationship with Greg was her final character arc in more ways than just because it ultimately led to her "death." Not to mention the fact that while Pink definitely made some decisions that were manipulative, self-absorbed and short-sighted, she also did so for reasons that had legitimately compassionate merit. I look forward to seeing the full story of Pink/Rose and what changes transpired in her over the course of her existence. We know there WERE changes because the Rose character Pink ultimately became before having Steven is NOT the same spoiled little brat we see in Steven's Jungle Moon dream.

[@joshcastaneda2482]

Responding to the statement at about 12:35. Pink Diamond *had* to do something outrageously different in order to pull off a rebellion. We know from Garnet that when someone does something super unexpected, then her future vision has trouble predicting where the new timeline is going. We can assume that any Sapphires that looked at the future, if she led the rebellion openly as Pink Diamond, would figure out how she was running it. And the other Diamonds could easily use the Moon observation room to spy on her. So she had to circumvent Diamonds and Sapphires, and the most unexpected path she could was to create a person that the Diamonds thought was real.

[@transdollie9677]

“If Blue and Yellow pull a Topaz on us, I’m going to flip out” Hhhhhhh have I got some news for you, buddy

[@IzanagiFaust]

While this wasn’t a twist I expected, because I never paid mind to the theory of Rose and Pink Diamond being the same. Though it makes a lot of the things that built up to it fall perfectly into place, the reveal didn’t really shock me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it but I wasn’t incredibly excited for it. I was just like: “Well, that’s cool I guess”, I don’t know why but I kinda felt them going down a Diamond conspiracy route of a diamond killing another diamond after Steven’s trial, I considered it to be a little more interesting and maybe even mind blowing to explore what could be a motif for such a thing, since Yellow seemed so hellbent on cutting the trial short. Again, I have no problems with how things are going, but I guess this route just doesn’t interest me as much as the one I desired to see. All in all though it’s not an illogical turn and I can’t wait to see where things go now that Steven knows Rose and Pink Diamond are the same. Also, I like how this puts more depth behind Pearl’s love for Rose and undying loyalty that drove her to put herself in harms way during fights.

[@brianbrush5107]

"Of course there's organic life on that planet its an invasion" telling yellow and blue not to hurt the earth because of humans would have just been plane dumb.

[@Aquatic-Man]

brian brush is it as dumb as you spelling plain.

[@myalo2372]

Even in the first episode. Just with the cookie cats logo. It's design was a foreshadowing of pinkdiamond

[@OliveTF2]

"If Blue and Yellow Diamond pull a Topaz on us, I am going to flip. Out." 😬

[@sherbert1321]

Watching this now in september 2019: welp

[@Grimm_Book]

Despite the fluff filler, I think this reveal was actually rushed due to Cartoon Networks stupid sporadic episode ordering.

[@jillianmonks5030]

Considering the way the Diamonds just eradicated the Crystal Gems at the end of the war, imagine what would have happened if Pink directly waged war against them from the start. She would have lost very badly

[@TheHysteriaMan]

10:20 "immature, naive, child-like even." I'm guessing that even though Pink Diamond is a diamond she is clearly lower on the "totem pole" than the other two. Maybe diamonds are made like any other gem, but they are so rare that when one is made it changes the power dynamic of their civilization. Thus, Pink Diamond at the time when she complained about getting a planet was still a "child" or "young" in the eyes of Yellow Diamond. You know, this makes me think (definitely not the first one to think this) if all gems have to be made...where did the first ones come from? (To the video editor and microphone to make another fan theory!)

[@eljenhudson7834]

I swear "intelligent" commenters like yours and a select few are very rare compared to the 10000s of other idiotic ones.

[@ConnorM0618]

Rebecca herself called Rose a bad person

[@user-zf6go7hn9o]

Where is that comment then，everyone keep saying rebecca said that herself but I never did see that，are you lying?

[@ConnorM0618]

陳品涵 in the Steven universe podcast Rebecca had said that talking about how Rose manipulated people like Bismuth and Pearl

[@user-zf6go7hn9o]

+Mango Man Where is that video anyway?

[@user-zf6go7hn9o]

+Mango Man And you didn't said that Rebecca directly said that her is a bad person?

[@ConnorM0618]

陳品涵 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYLRmZemjpiti80 "Rose Quartz is a really awful person" -Rebecca Sugar

[@Garrettcube]

5:40 OOF if only he knew back then...

[@Chyun98]

I was hoping you'd address the opposition to the twist considering the title. I'm actually fine with the twist but there I can find some understanding in why: Steven Universe was usually celebrated as a show that portrayed heavy themes with a optimistic light through its topics of individuality and self-discovery. The rebellion initially furthered the idea that all gems had the innate ability to be more than what they were assigned and create relationships that were initially scorned upon. Rose Quartz one day defying her diamond encouraged dissatisfaction toward the system doing questionable deeds to maintain this goal was already a narrative that kept the show's tone in-line while making the character plenty flawed as it is. Steven Universe could still maintain Rose as a questionable leader while being the paragon of freedom. It's why Pearl can proudly deem herself the "Pearl that belonged to no one", why Ruby and Sapphire can be together, why Amethyst can find confidence, why Steven can be a Crystal Gem. The twist changes the series to have a more sardonic interpretation of the rebellion. That the only way for individuals to find freedom in a dehumanizing system is if the higher power that is part of that system decides to oppose it. The brave acts of rebellion are re contextualized to have just been another order from a Diamond all this time. This coupled up with Steven, the heir of Pink Diamond, and the chosen one, being the catalyst for several changes in the series makes all these decisions feel less special. Of course that is the point, but having the series take this direction arguably makes the narrative more conventional. While there are many stories involving rebellions against the government, there are hardly any that resist the urge to add an extra layer to this narrative. Almost every rebellion story with some success usually has to require a prophetic chosen one or make the entire thing part of a larger plan to add extra credibility. Considering how hard Steven Universe has pushed the "strength in individuality" theme throughout the whole show, I think some fans feel betrayed and disappointed that this show wasn't the one to keep that simpler, optimistic narrative. This especially devastating considering how much the show and it's creators push to avoid a sardonic viewpoint of the world I want to know what others think of this.

[@Greeneyes666666]

Chyunman 98 I agree with you. I think adopting a less optimistic view on the world is a good way to make the morals of the story more believable. We just have to wait and see how the show is going to re-convey these morals in this new context. (I'm not a native English speaker so sorry if I'm not clear)

[@Seii.A1]

Chyunman 98 I'm just going to ramble out my thoughts, but I think they can possibly reintroduce this individuality theme, but only through some way of having Steven separate himself completely from the image of both Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond. We see from the start that he continuously struggles finding himself because he is constantly in his mother's shadow or rather blinded by her light. He wants to fill in her role and be apart of the Crystal Gems; strong, resilient, powerful. Later in the series, as he learns about his lineage and deconstructs the image of his mother, it's as if he's finally out of her shadow and is given the chance to scruntize her in whole. Here, he begins to challenge her beliefs with his own. Which is very important. With the reveal for Pink Diamond especially paired with the inner turmoil left in it's wake as he realizes the depth of despair caused on both ends, (BD & YD's mourning// Pearl's mourning & difficultly moving forward whilst being stuck in the past// Ruby & Sapphire's betrayal) this is the perfect chance for him to contemplate separating completely from her footsteps to forge his own path. It's the epitome of self-discovery: He was never Rose Quartz or Pink Diamond but *Steven Universe*. All this time he's been blindly accepting these fates, these unwanted responsibilities, and hardships that in reality aren't even his own. I think maybe it will be truly empowering for the audience to see him finally break away from that (not in a demeaning way like he disowns his mother or downright disparages these concerns as something he doesn't have to help with: he can't help his kind nature) to finally acknowledge what he can do as Steven. Not Rose Quartz 2.0 or Pink Diamond. And not because of who his mother was. How his fate is what he makes of it. This is the same thing he himself has been preaching all throughout the series. Steven's capacity to grow, have empathy, and mature is a trait that Rose could not achieve to a certain extent. Could she be a leader to the Crystal Gems? Very much so. Could she see that her actions could have dire consequences that may affect not only her, but the people around her? Maybe.. not. Could she learn that talking things out could be best solution to a conflict? Yes, but it took Greg asking to have a heart to heart with her to really realize that something was even wrong. Maybe Rose's cowardice or worry over losing the friends she's made clouded her judgement over the implications and influence it would have upon the Crystal Gems to know she was a Diamond, one of the few in charge of a system they literally we're standing against. And after thousands and thousands of years of encouragment to embrace their sense of self and self-development, it makes perfect sense to be in Sapphire's position. Yet, there are so many boundaries that Rose stopped at, that Steven has surpassed. It's true what you said, since it is revealed that Pink Diamond was the real leader of the gem rebellion, it really downplays/waters down the integrity of the essence of rebelling; finding yourself, deviating freely, and breaking away from the mold. But at this point perhaps, the real theme they have been building up individuality to see was not through PD, or Rose Quartz, but Steven. This is his own choice. He can live for himself and he can live for them all. He can advocate to Ruby and Sapphire about how what they feel doesn't need to be questioned because it's what they feel, he can be the final reenforcement Pearl needs to solidify her identity as Pearl and not a Pearl, he can be the living testament to Amethyst of finding confidence in yourself to be who you are because it's who you are and want to be, and he has the power to free himself of the coffin Rose is unintentionally suffocating him in, because he has chosen to be himself. Sorry if this is long, lol I probably was just repeating myself. Honestly, I hope that the creators choose to handle what happens next meticulously. Everyone's on edge, confused, hurt and excited. I hope they proceed with caution and take time to resolve this.

[@Chyun98]

That's definitely the route the show is going for at this point. Would be disappointed if it were anything else at this point. But then again, I'm good with the twist as long as the ideas brought forth are executed right. My post was less about Steven Universe losing the theme of individuality, but more about the show's change in identity. I like a good amount of cynicism in my shows as I feel they make the positive messages stand out more (hence Steven being his own person beyond Pink Diamond.) But considering the audience of this show, I feel that adding this new narrative may have upset some fans who were happy enough to see a show simply about a flawed individual who stood up to a government on her own without special merit which is surprisingly rare to find nowadays. Again, I'm not one of these people but I understand that some would've been disappointed that this show didn't end up being the narrative they were looking for all this time.

[@Seii.A1]

Chyunman 98 Ah, I see what you mean. Unfortunately, they can't appease everyone with the decisions and route they choose to take. But hopefully those who don't like the turn of events will still be able to take away something from this, you know?

[@samanthaegley5760]

My first impression about why Pink might have wanted to adopt a "gemsona" was so that the gems following "Rose" would have a choice instead of blindly following their diamond. The idea has some flaws, but im not entirely convinced that Rose and Pink being one and the same undoes the original theme of the rebellion. It was still about gems who wanted to break free of their original purpose and form different and meaningful relationships. It just so happens that Pink, maybe more than anyone, also had that desire, and invented "Rose" as a way to both get what she wanted AND give others the opportunity to do the same. Either way, i dont think Pink as "Rose" ever forced any of the gem rebellion to fight based on who she was, so saying that the reveal means the crystal gem soldiers were just following a diamond all along is an oversimplification of what happened.

[@vrananikola]

Finally someone saying the right thing

[@jeresjolly7224]

My thoughts on Steven being the "chosen one" is that it may end up being a deconstruction of that. The Chosen One tends to use the Special Powers they recieved in order to solve the big conflict. I think Steven will attempt this and fail. I think he'll solve it in his " own, steveny way", without having to rely on his diamond powers.

[@melrowesilab357]

I know you might think that Steven is 'extra' special now because he's technically the son of a diamond, but personally I don't think that's the case. Sure he's a son of *a* diamond, but this specific diamond is also as what we've seen, the most naive, smallest, youngest and possibly defective compared to the other three. And Blue and especially Yellow knows this. That's why it took so long for them to give Pink a colony, because they think she doesn't deserve it and is of course isn't ready for it. They may have cared for her and loved her, but she's still quite a shame especially in terms of reputation, power and position. So I don't think they'll be able to use that information to progress a plot in that sense.

[@DarkstarArchangel]

The dumbest statement about this revelation that I saw someone said was "this revelation just gave the community way more questions than answers" which in reality it was the other way around by a large margin. The truth about the Pink Diamond incident actually answered most of the questions of the Steven Universe fandom. A lot of the negativity about A Single Pale Rose is just bad, especially with the hate Rebecca Sugar is receiving.

[@blockeontheleafeon]

3:53 Now this has even More Meaning once you see the Twist Happen and hear the Song "Let's think about (Love)" This now makes Complete Sense with the Twist in mind! ^^

[@AlexReynard]

Damn good analysis, and I can appreciate how much time you took finding appropriate screenshots for each part of your essay.

[@Kingkent1207]

One of the things that Rose taught was that a gem is not predetermined by the class of gem they are born (or I guess made) into. Rather they are the person they choose to be. If Rose revealed that she was Pink Diamond, no gem would treat her like a person but only as a Diamond. The only way she could be the person she chose to be was to remain as Rose. So yes, I get why see didn't want to look back. While the decision to "shatter" herself had horrible unintended consequences, I think it would have been even more disastrous for her cause if she had tried to go back on her decision during the war and would likely have ruined her friendship with Garnet if she revealed the truth after the war. Although many are quick to condemn Rose Diamond as an alternately flawed character, I love this retroactive character development. We can now consider and better understand how she began as childish Diamond and developed into a mature and wise person. I don't think becoming Steven was a way to escape her problems, and I challenge anyone who holds that opinion to re-watch that clip from "Lion 4: straight to video" and tell me I'm wrong

[@lucasmartinez5703]

I bring that clip up all the time whenever someone said she made Steven to run away or impose her problems on him intentionally! I'm so glad someone remembers that.

[@user-zf6go7hn9o]

If she make steven just to escape her responsbility then that is just foolish，because she is still in stevens body,if steven died，she died，so how is she escaping responsbility?I am glad you point that out.

[@honeiimarlowe7874]

Unpopular opinion: I actually don’t dislike any characters- even Ronaldo is cool- and I like the Rose is Pink path... Plus, Bismuth’s situation didn’t bother me too much, and I loved Topaz and how she ended up being sweet. Yup.

[@frozenyogurth]

something interesting that I realized just now too is: Pink Diamonds powers are shielding powers. They are deffensive in contrast to the other diamonds offensive moves. All of Pink Diamonds powers are mainly deffensive and nurturing. I think that's also why Pink Diamond chose to protect the earth.

[@arellajardin2323]

These reflect a lot of my thoughts, though better articulated. On the issue of PD rebelling openly as herself, I still wonder what the result would be. PD had 1 colony, a new and unfinished one. She did not have the resources and troops that the other Diamonds had. I think leading a double life, she maintained some control of the war on the Homeworld side, and thus prevented the outright crushing of the rebellion quickly. There’s also the question of how Homeworld would react to a Diamond rebelling. Blue and Yellow came to Earth to assist. But against a Diamond, wouldn’t they bring the full force of their armies? I hope the show gives a more thorough timeline of Pink Diamond on Earth, and the rebellion. I think the narrative changes, and thus how I’d feel about them, based on how much time passed between events, and some motivation would be nice. I prefer a more sympathetic imagining of PD, than others have in the fandom. But I admit that’s heavily based on who she became, not who she could have been. Also, Pearl’s perception of her. I do agree there is a degree of cowardice in her actions, but I wonder how much was from her own weakness, or from lacking (or thinking she lacked) options. She was definitely impulsive, but impulsiveness does not directly translate to selfishness. That’s why I love the character so much more now, that complexity. I don’t think she should be praised, nor demonized, completely. She was a flawed person who made mistakes that cost many, but she apparently was trying her best to do what she thought was right to protect others.

[@arellajardin2323]

I forgot one detail. I don’t think it’s fair to blame PD for the bubbling of all the Rose Quartz. That was an extreme, and petty, reaction by Yellow and Blue. Other gem cuts rebelled, why not punish all Sapphires, all Bismuths? For that matter, we have real world parallels. That’s like saying anyone who stands up and fights for freedom, is to blame if the tyrannical government starts killing civilians in punishment. Syria dropping chorine bombs on neighborhoods? That’s the rebel’s fault for rising up.

[@brianbrush5107]

I personally think she should be praised as her good traits far outway her bad ones and most her bad ones were more simple strategic failure as opposed to actual personal flaws

[@CountDVB]

Granted, all of this assuems that Pink Diamond's feelings would be taken seriously by Yellow or Blue Diamond. They might find her view to be eccentric or such and if they see her feelings as a burden to her colony, they would be just take it from her. She's the youngest and while a leader, she'd still be treated as just a kid by the other Diamonds. Alot of people give her alot of crap, but seriously, stop and think about it. It's already clear that she was viewed as a kid and that her attachment to organic life was something no one really got. You think she'd be taken seriously?

[@brianbrush5107]

CountDVB 2nd like blue didn't take her seriously and yellow was borderline abusive toward her if anything the fact she didn't authorize the shattering of them despite thinking they didn't care about her

[@mucchan2484]

You have the best and most thought out cartoon reviews, keep it up

[@Flowtail]

I feel like "oooh, THAT'S why everything was pink!" was my reaction

[@demonking86420]

When Rose said "I can't exactly shatter myself" I went YEEEEEEEEESSSSS

[@keklord3021]

"final villain" hmMMmmm

[@samanthajeffers9339]

It’s interesting to watch this video after the diamond art has ended, and to see that yellow, blue, and white diamond all kind of pulled a topaz. I do agree that it should’ve been rushed. Especially whenever we’ve been shown before they can handle a character slowly changing their values. Like with Paradont for example, or Amethyst.

[@naomistarlight6178]

I kind of wish they had gotten a whole season for White Diamond to change. The way the Diamonds act in the beginning of the movie is weird.

[@samanthajeffers9339]

Noemi Starlight I agree with you. It did feel really odd.

[@amaribeltran4176]

I love how thorough and thought out you are with your reviews.

[@C____G]

I love this video, thank you for the in-depth and positive insight in your opinions regarding this massive reveal!

[@cookieridergirl]

Ha. The diamond situation was rushed and not handled well. And blue and yellow pull a topaz and eventually white all in one mega episode.

[@seijuruhiko]

Thanks for a calm rational video. I got tired of all the knee jerk reactions of calling rose the "bad guy" or the REAL antagonist. Especially when there is little to go on for this besides Seeing PD throw a hissy fit there is still a lot we don't know for sure about her intentions or motivations during the war but your video proves that she did what she could and tried to live up to an ideal and she was clearly in over her head, to the point where she couldn't even be honest with those who loved her in the beginning and then continued that lie to the present. What did Garnet say? "A good leader keeps secrets." Great video too first time I've made a comment during this whole thing because like some in the beginning my feelings on the matter were too complicated to put to words.

[@cameron20_]

Blue and Yellow care "deeply" for Pink in the sense that they love the idea of her, but they were very abusive to her whenever she did not fit the image of her they created in their heads. This is also supported by how White refers to Pink as "the part of her she always had to suppress/reject".

[@pegmay7209]

3:04 This is actually what made me turn over to the “Rose is Pink” side of the fandom. It reminded me of Avatar when Aang would meditate and communicate with his past life.