Why Did Homeworld Cover Up the Shattering of Pink Diamond?

Oh man, the Steven Universe one hour special, Wanted this past Monday was amazing! It kicked off season five with a bang! Lars got some much needed character development (along with a change in skin color), we were introduced to some new characters and we finally, finally saw Homeworld after the name was dropped a gazillion times across four seasons. As great as it was to see the new bunch of friends Steven and Lars made (I really like the off color Gems), the episode that really got me noggin going was The Trial.

Throughout much of season one for Steven Universe Rose Quartz is built up by the Crystal Gems as if she were this perfect being that could do no wrong. Her status was so great that it has given Steven doubts about living up to her outstanding reputation. As season two and three go on, we come to find out that she's far from perfect, being  flawed as anyone else. While we've know that Jasper has been wanting to tear her a new one since The Return in season one, it isn't until near the end of season three in Earthlings and Back to the Moon that we find out why Jasper hates Rose so much: she shattered Pink Diamond. At least, this is what werelead to believe.

The episode The Trial dropped some startling revelations on us. Not only did Rose not shatter Pink Diamond, it is heavily implied that her murder was an inside job. Fans are already theorizing who shattered Pink Diamond and as much as I want to know who the culprit was, I really want to know "why" The why has me more stumped than the who. Why would one of the Diamonds kill one of their own and why Pink?

If we look at the murals of each Diamond, we can see how many planets each one has. White posses the most of any, followed by Yellow, then Blue and finally Pink with just one planet under her belt, the Earth. That leads me to believe she could have been the youngest of the Diamonds and therefore, had the least experience. I know Gems don't age so when I say "youngest" she could have been the last of the Diamonds to be made and since she only had one colony to her name, I don't think that is a bad guess to make, unless all four Diamonds were made at the same time, assuming someone made them at all. Point is, if you were going to eliminate someone for whatever reason, you'd want to get rid of your weakest link, which could very well have been Pink Diamond.

When Pink was shattered the Rebellion had already been going on four hundreds of years. Was it possible that Pink was having a change of heart? Could she have come to develop a fondness for human life in her time taking humans from Earth and placing them in her own personal Zoo? This crossed my mind but  there's still so little we know about her that it isn't high on my list of reasons as to why she was taken out.

As for why Homeworld sought to cover up the fact that they had Pink Diamond shattered, I've got at least one clear cut reason. Homeworld is a highly advanced planet that has got to contain countless Gems. Howeverm there are also Gem controlled planets, meaning those planets also are inhabited by Gems. If word got out that one of the Diamonds shattered Pink, the fallout would be huge. Do you think the Gems on Homworld and all the other Gem controlled planets would just about about their merry way knowing a member of the Diamond Authority was shanked by a fellow member? Keep in mind, Pink Diamond was shattered during a war. No doubt many soldiers fighting on the side of the Diamonds and Homeworld would call into question why they would side with anyone that has no problem taking out such a high ranking member of their society. The Diamonds are pretty powerful to be sure. Garnet has made it clear on multiple occasions that she does not wanna mess with the Diamonds. A small, left over group of rebels would stand little chance against the Diamonds. But a bunch of planets worth of rebels? That is a mess the Diamonds would not even wanna try to clean up.

In Dragon Ball, the Saiyans served Freeza but he exterminated the majority of them because he feared they could be a threat to him and the possibility of a Super Saiyan rising from their ranks frightened him. Turns out his fears would perfectly valid. When Pink was shattered the Rebellion had already been going on four hundreds of years. Was it possible that Pink was having a change of heart? Could she have come to develop a fondness for human life in her time taking humans from Earth and placing them in her own personal Zoo? The Trial has given us such a good mystery and I can't wait to see how it unfolds.

In Defense of Pearl

The fandom of Steven Universe is very passionate about the characters. And that's perfectly understandable. Steven Universe has a cast of well rounded, fleshed out, developed characters that, despite the fact that the main stars are aliens and one half alien, are very relatable. Even though the have extra terrestrial origins, they still seem very human and the reason for that is because they have what makes all of us human: we have flaws.

A running theme of Steven Universe is embracing imperfection. No matter how perfect some people may appear, there will always be those chinks in their armor. This is probably more than apparent with Pearl. Early in the first season, it seemed like Steven was the one always messing things up, but more often than not, he was the one to correct his own mistakes. Midway through the first season, we began to see that Pearl, in spite of her smarts and perfectionist nature, could very well be the most flawed of the Crystal Gems. In "Space Race", she was so eager to get back into Space that she almost got herself and Steven Killed. In "Rose's Scabbard", She breaks down and lashes out at everyone when she finds out that Rose didn't confide in her with all of her secrets. In "Sworn to the Sword", she tries to instill within Connie the dangerously self destructive mentality of sacrificing herself for Steven as Pearl did for Rose. The thing about that is, Pearl can regenerate from server injuries. Connie wouldn't be so lucky.

Square mom is VERY upset with bird mom.

If there was any doubt to how Pearl felt about Rose, all of it was removed in "We Need to Talk." As Pearl and Greg sing their duet, Pearl is standing off to the side, brewing more salt than the biggest salt factory. Out of pure jealousy, she Fuses with Rose and has eyes of smugness staring at Greg the whole time. That isn't the end of it, though. She straight up tells Greg that the only reason Rose sees anything in him is because she's human and that Rose will eventually grow tired of him. This right here is what set a lot of the fandom off. You had fans saying that they hated her and that she was awful. Awful for what? For feeling a human a emotion that all of us have felt numerous times in our life? Pearl may not have the highest opinion of humanity, but she's much more like the species than she may ever admit. Not only did Pearl feel jealous, she acted on it. Again, something we've all done. Yes, she's came off incredibly salty in doing so but the way she was feeling was perfectly natural. I think a lot of the venom she got from fans was pretty unwarranted.

Steven Bomb 3 has been a roller coaster ride for many a Steven Universe fan. If we've learned anything from the last two Steven Bombs, its that they always start off with a Pearl episode and this one was no different. We finally get to see the fusion of Pearl and Garnet and as some fans guessed before the Comic Con 2015 reveal, they do indeed form Sardonyx. Pearl is so thrilled to fuse with Garnet that she sets up an event that causes the biggest rift between the Crystal Gems to date. When I heard this Steven Bomb was going to be dubbed Week of Sardonyx, I wasn't sure how the Crewneverse were going to go about it, but after watching "Cry For Help," that has been made abundantly clear.

Ruby and Sapphire may appear to have
the perfect relationship in the form of Garnet, but
even these two love birds still fight as an couple would.

Sardonyx may have only appeared in one episode but the actions Pearl took have lasting affects for the entire week. Repairing a communications hub that Peridot used to contact Yellow Diamond not only puts the Earth in grave danger but the only way the hub could be destroyed was by fusing and Pearl kept repairing the hub because it gave her a reason to fuse with Garnet. Given Garnet's views of fusion, its quite understandable that she's furious at Pearl for basically using her for her own ends.

Pearl's manipulation has made for some excellent drama this week. Since Pearl and Garnet aren't on good terns it spread like wildfire and has affected every member of the Crystal Gems. And since Garnet is made of two gems, of course Ruby and Sapphire are taking it hard as well. In contrast to their behavior in Jail Break where they really couldn't stand being separated, their argument has them spending hours apart. This was good for two reasons. One, we get to see Ruby and Sapphire again. Two, it shows that while they may appear to be the perfect couple, they fight just like every other couple under the sun. I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but it bears repeating. No body is perfect, not even our favorite red and blue moms.

After Cry For Help, the fandom has once again raised their pitch forks at Pearl. Its getting to be a knee jerk reaction to despise a character that does some extreme wrong in this show. Even Amethyst caught hate when she transformed into Rose in front of Greg during an argument in "Maximum Capacity." Yes, if was a very line-crossing thing to do. Good people or people with good intentions make mistakes. Pearl royally screwed up this week. No ifs ands or buts about it. How many friends do you have that have did you wrong? Now I realize that depending on the severity of the mistake and a person's capacity for forgiveness all factors in to whether they can move past whatever bad blood went down between those people.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said " I've decided to stick with Love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." Pearl has made some pretty notable goofs of the course of the series thus far. But nothing she's done has made me hate her. Not even her actions in Cry For Help. Maybe its a bit scary that I've become so invested in the fictional characters of this show that I adore them almost on the same level that I do my family and friends. People screw up. You, me, everyone. Sometimes we screw up big time like Pearl did this week. I'm not saying what she did was right because it was wrong on every single level, but  I honestly don't believe she should be hated for it. Pearl has some serious issues that she really needs to work out and I cannot wait to see the day where she's a better gem for it, but until then, I really think the fandom needs to stop hating her every single time she messes up.

Falling for Gravity Falls

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING EDITORIAL CONTAINS SPOILERS. IF YOU'VE NEVER WATCHED GRAVITY FALLS OR STEVEN UNIVERSE, LEAVE NOW AND GO GET YOURSELF ACQUAINTED WITH TWO OF THE BEST CARTOONS AIRING ON TV.

I've been aware of the existence of Gravity Falls for, I wanna say, a few years now. The show often comes up in conversation along with Steven Universe for being one of the greatest shows in western animation. Considering both shows are still on their second season and have such a strong, devoted fanbase, that speaks volume for each show's quality. But where as I've been along for the ride of Steven Universe since the show premiered, I didn't hop on the Gravity Falls train until a few weeks ago.

The first full episode of Gravity Falls that I had seen was Fight Fighters, the 10th episode of the first season. One of my good friends was in town and like old times, we hung out, watching anime and cartoons. He was pretty adamant that I get into Gravity Falls but rather than start at the beginning, he started me off with this episode. It's chalk full of video game references like beat 'em ups, Donkey Kong and especially Street Fighter. It was a laugh riot and was enough to convince me to give Gravity Falls a serious look.

Just another day in the life of mystery twins
Dipper and Mabel Pines. 

Sure, Fight Fighters was an episode you could jump into right away, but having now watched the entire first season and being caught up like most fans are, this is definitely one of those shows that I recommended starting from episode one. Yes, there are loads and loads of laughs to be had in this series but there's also mystery and in great abundance. What's up with those journals? Why are some of the townsfolk so screwy? What gives with those codes at the end of each episode? And why are there so many freaky triangles all over the place? Those are but a few of the mysteries that litter the town known as Gravity Falls.

The mystery aspect of the show is unquestionably it's biggest draw. The intro alone gives one the impression that there is lots to uncover in this series. I really wasn't expecting it to play such a large role in the show, since, prior to sitting down and watching all of the episodes, I hadn't done any research on this series, which, in hindsight, I'm really glad I didn't. It was quite refreshing to find out all of these things first hand. Of course, since so much is shrouded in mystery, there's still much I don't know. Watching clips on YouTube and re-watching episodes, I've noticed things I didn't see upon the first viewing. This huge emphasis on mystery and attention to detail make Gravity Falls so much more than "just another Disney cartoon."

Old Man McGucket may seem like just another
crazy old man, but there is much more to him
than meets the eye.

If I may, I'd like to take a few moments to talk about another one of my favorite animated shows, Steven Universe. The first time fusion was talked about in universe in Steven Universe was Giant Woman, the 12th episode of the first season. Here, we learn that the gems can fuse into a much more powerful warrior. But before this, we were given hints that one of the three Crystal Gems was a fusion. Garnet, the tallest, strongest of the gems has two gems, while Pearl and Amethyst only have a single gem. In the episode Alone Together, Amethyst says fusing is difficult for herself and Pearl, but Garnet says it isn't hard for her to pull off, and this is due to the fact that she herself is a fusion, but she doesn't share this information with Steven. Those are just a few hints that were dropped for viewers to put the pieces together that this super tall, super strong gem has been the combination of two gems this whole time. Rather than keep the audience in the dark about it, clues were sprinkled all throughout the first season, leading up to the big reveal in the season finale Jail Break, that yes, Garnet is a fusion. To drive the point home even further, Steven finds this out after he helps get Garnet's two halves, Ruby and Sapphire, back together. There were fans that already knew Garnet was a fusion since they connected the dots, but there were still plenty out there that watched the show religiously that had no idea she was two gems, making that bombshell reveal that much more powerful.

And what about the Homeworld Gem invasion on Earth? We were given some hints of this in some of the earliest episodes like Serious Steven. The opening location is a strawberry field, littered with weapons because it was once a gem battlefield. Inside the pyramid we see some rather interesting murals on the wall that show Rose Quartz facing, what is more than likely one of the Homeworld Gem invaders. And speaking of the Homeworld Gems, why aren't there more of them on Earth? At the start of the show, we're almost lead to believe Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst are the last of their kind until Mirror Gem/Ocean Gem where we meet Lapis Lazuli and find out there are more gems out there. Not only that, but there is a whole planet full of gems that the Crystal Gems want nothing to do with since their previous invasion on Earth caused much harm to the planet. The Crystal Gems may defend humanity, but the Homeworld Gems certainly don't feel the same way about our species. All of this was stuff the viewer could pick up on upon close observation before the show had the characters state it.

The ever vigilant Bill Cipher is bad news. He
also knows things. LOTS of things. 

OK, so what does Steven Universe's wonderful way of allowing the viewer to piece things together have anything to do with Gravity Falls? The shows are very similar in this respect, that's what. While it is true that many mysteries and questions have yet to be answered in Gravity Falls, this show, much like Steven Universe, allows many watchful eyed viewers to pick up on on-going plot threads. Like Steven Universe, Gravity Falls excels at foreshadowing.

Dipper spends much of the series trying to solve mysteries and unlock the secrets of Gravity Falls much like the Author of the journals did, but unbeknownst to him, there was a huge mystery right under his own roof that he never noticed, his Gruncle Stan. Throughout the first season we get hints that there is much more to Stan Pines than his shady businessman nature would have you believe. I actually thought something wasn't right in the intro the way the S always falls off the "Shack," as if to allude to him being a fraud in some way other than his questionable business practices. I suppose this was just to show that much of the stuff he tries to goad customers into buying is being fake. But then he sneakily goes down a hidden passage behind the vending machine in the Mystery Shack. As funny as his amoral businessman persona is, what he was hiding from Dipper and Mabel make him a far more interesting character.

Ghosts, monsters, paranormal activity are all
great for attracting tourists. In Gravity Falls, however, all
of those things are very real threats.

And man, is Stan hiding things. The mid season two finale, Not What He Seems, turned out to be everything everyone said it was. What fans long suspected from the clues left up until this point, turned out to be true: Stan has a twin brother, who turned out to be the one who made the journals. The episode went much further than though. Stan may not even be Stan and could just be impersonating the real Stanford Pines as a news article found by Dipper and Mabel says that Stan died in a car crash. We still don't know the full specifics on this one but since Stan kept this from the twins and the universal portal that Stan used to bring his brother back from that other dimension could have destroyed the world, you better believe we're in for more mysteries and some strained relationships. On the other hand, the title Not What He Seems could have another meaning. Dipper assumes the worst of Stan since he hid the journals and had so many fake ids. But maybe the the title was alluding to the twins assumptions about Stan being this terrible person being completely wrong. After all, if you had a loved one that was taken from you for thirty years, you'd probably do everything you could to get them back.

Of course you can't have a good show without interesting characters and Gravity Falls has quite the cast. I've already went into some detail about Stan so I'd like to mention some of the other main characters and even the supporting cast. Dipper is a smart, mature for his age preteen that still shows his childish side. He's the brains to Mabel's brawn. Well perhaps brawn isn't the best word to describe Mabel. She's one cute, hyperactive kid that is the queen of adorkable. Her over the top silliness is just so endearing to me that she quickly become my favorite character.

Dipper, Mabel and Stan may be the central cast but the supporting characters get time in the spotlight as well. We find out that Soos looks up to Stan because he gave him a job and he's around way more than his actual father ever was. Pacifica Northwest, who was originally intended to exist in the show just to annoy Mabel was hit with huge character development in the second season where she went form snobby bully girl to a distraught girl that fears she's just like her screwed up family. With some help from Dipper her snoddy persona begins to fade and it kinda looks like she could actually start crushing on him.

So now that I've taken the plunge and seen what the hype is all about I can't wait for new episodes in July. Why was the Author in that other dimension? Why is Bill planning? Will Mabel find true love? Ugh, hurry up and get here, July.

My, How You've Grown, Steven Universe

Wow. If I had to sum up how far Steven Universe has come since it debuted on Cartoon Network in 2013 in a single word, that word would be "wow." What seemed like it was going to be yet another slapstick comedy cartoon (which I have no problem with) has gone on to become not just my favorite show on Cartoon Network, but my favorite show period. Of all of the shows that I currently watch, this is the one that I look forward to the most. Steven Universe is really that good.

Central protagonist Steven is still a lovable kid goofball, but h'e matured so much. He can now activate and deactivate his bubble at will. He can also summon his shield easily. What's more in The Return, he made the shield large enough to protect himself and the Crystal Gems. It was also nice how the how escape in the followup episode, Jailbreak, was instigated by Steven. The Gems never would have made it back to Earth if Steven hadn't sprung them.

You'd think an ice cream snack song
would be irrelevant to the plot. And you'd be wrong.

Steven Universe is a show that clearly was planned out far in advance. After going back to watch earlier episodes and comparing them with more recent episodes, I can tell that Rebecca Sugar and her crew are not making this up as they go along and I love them for that. There is foreshadowing all over the place, starting all the way back to the very first episode. At first, I assumed Steven's song about Cookie Cat to be nothing but cute, child humor. But taking later episodes of season one into account, it's blatantly obvious that Cookie Cat's origins mirror that of the Gems. Cookie Cat is a refugee from an interstellar war just like the Gems and Cookie Cat left his family, or home planet behind just like the Gems. No way Cookie Cat's story lining up with the Gems is a coincidence.

And then you've got the long speculated theory that Garnet was a fusion. She has two gems instead of one, a ruby and a sapphire. When Alexandrite splits apart in Fusion Cuisine, we can see two unrecognizable Gem figures along with Pearl and Amethyst. Finally,there's Garnet's absolute joy at Steven and Connie's fusion in Alone Together, which makes so much more sense after the events of Jailbreak. Steven Universe is an absolute beast at foreshadowing and it's made me realize that a lot of it isn't all that apparent.

Of all the fights Steven has broken up between
Pearl and Amethyst, this one is the worst.

It's not just the excellent use of foreshadowing and character development that make me adore Steven Universe. The way this show tackles a lot of issues has to be commended. In Lars and the Cool Kids, Lars wishes to get in with the in crowd. Based off of so many movies and TV shows that we've seen from the past that have popular kids, you'd expect "the cool kids" to turn out to be a bunch of jerks and for Lars to realize that he's better off without them. This isn't the case. The cool kids turn out to be pretty cool, down to earth kids and its actually Steven that helps Lars become friends with them just by being himself. In Bubble Buddies, Connie's debut episode, it's implied that the girl suffers from social anxiety disorder. Come Alone Together, we get further hints of this as she didn't go to a school dance because the idea of having everyone look at her on the dance floor made her nervous. While fused with Steven as Steveonnie at a dance, you can tell it's Connie in there that's on the verge of having a panic attack when everyone stops dancing to look at Steveonnie in awe. The visuals used to demonstrate this, where everything around Steveonnie grows to show Connie's increased apprehensiveness, are brilliant. Steveonnie bolts off the dance floor like someone with a need to be anywhere but there.

Pearl is so eager to go to exploring space
that she nearly gets herself and Steven killed.

The way Steven Universe  represents multiple body types is another thing I love about this show. You got fat people, skinny people, muscular people and middle-of-the-road people. Having the main star, Steven, be a heavy set kid immediately paints him differently from a lot of other male leads.  If you want to be all buffed out, that's fine, but that body type isn't for everyone. On the opposite end, not everyone wants to be a toothpick. Even so, there are those of us that will never get the body that others have. I've read fan posts from people that have the same body type as Pearl stating they've learned to appreciate the figure they have. The people with the aforementioned body types I've listed aren't just background characters. This is also the main cast I'm talking about. The people with all kinds of body types are taking center stage. We live in a society that looks down on people that don't conform to what is perceived to be the ideal body type. By having the main cast consist of multiple body types, it sends the message that it's fine to like the figure you've been given. And let's face it, the world would be pretty boring if we all looked the same.

Garnet busts out a killer song while fighting
Jasper.

I was originally watching the show for the humor, character development and adventure aspects. Despite the sick powers the Gems have, I originally thought the show's fighting wasn't one of it's strong suits. However, that's really turned around. We've seen the Gems fight each other in Tiger Millionaire and Pearl's fight with Holo Pearl in Steven the Sword Fighter while paying heavy homage to Revolutionary Girl Utena, was pretty cool. The Gems fight against Lapis Lazuli has some incredible animation. Ditto on the Pearl vs. Amethyst fight in On the Run, even though it was tough to watch given the series strong family-like nature. Garnet's fight against Jasper in Jailbreak is sure to be remembered for Estelle's amazing vocal performance, but the fight itself was a sight to behold.

As of March 13, season two has already began but from what I hear, we won't be getting anymore season two episodes for a while. This just makes the wait for even more episodes that much more difficult to bear. I'm eagerly anticipating DVD/Blu-Ray releases for season one, which will more than likely be split into two parts since the first season racks up 52 episodes. Although, if they released the first season in one set, that would be all kinds of awesome. The show has grown so much from episode one and things got deadly serious midway through the first season and at it's end. I cannot wait to see where Steven Universe goes from here.

Art #8: Steven Universe Gallery

I recently gave 5 Reasons to Watch Steven Universe and the artwork was among those reason. It really is an eye candy show. And on that note, enjoy these pieces of Steven Universe fan art.

By Yufei

By pocky

By theCHAMBA

By LambityMoon

By peannlui

By Themrock

By Zakeno

By kilala97

By LambityMoon

By bigyachtsandmoney

By TixTox

By LambityMoon

By geekysideburns

By TovioRogers

By TovioRogers