Poor Steven

Poor Steven

Bubbled was a great parallel between Steven and his mother. In the previous episode he found out that Rose Quartz did something he fully believed she would never do. He never wants a gem to be completely killed, ever, and after Bismuth, he believed his mother, whose gem and legacy he inherited, thought the same thing.

He’s nearly always gotten to know his mother through Greg’s eyes, at which point Rose was fully in love with Earth and its organic beings, with short lifespans and bodies that change minute to minute, day to day, across millenia. But the war was a long time before Greg knew her, and it may have changed Rose into that doting, caring gem we know her as. As in, she used to be different, more ruthless.

I think it’s probable that Rose’s decision to not let the Crystal Gems shatter anyone came out of the demise of Pink Diamond. It happened, and it was what made Rose realise that murder was a step too far for her rebellion. She’s not human. Empathy comes naturally to us, and that’s what Steven represents. But gems struggle with it. Things like sympathy are shown to be alien to Homeworld gems, so it seems like Rose putting down Earth’s coloniser for good was a turning point she came to regret, leading her to call it off-limits for her army.

Steven didn’t know this, so to him it makes his mother feel like a hypocrite. But I think her appreciation for life came as a direct result of being someone who took it away. It’s hard for Steven to accept his mother was a murderer, but Bubbled is about his journey to understanding why.

He’s in one of the most hopeless scenarios we can contemplate - drifting aimlessly through space. He’s polite and civil to his Ruby passenger, even though she is dangerous and blames him, because he’s safe in his bubble. When the Ruby says she ‘just wanted to see Rose Quartz’, he can’t resist using that to try and gain her favour, not realising the Ruby means she wanted the chance to defeat Rose Quartz. So in an offer of trust, he tells Ruby about his connection to Rose, and he avoids phrasing it as “I am Rose Quartz”, but says that he “knows where she is”…

Acknowledging this connection must feel more wrong than ever after what he knows she did, and he has yet to come to terms with the idea that in fighting a war, his mother caused someone to die. But he does, thinking the Ruby might respect him. The Ruby rebukes him in disbelief and even calls him “crueller than Rose Quartz” for the attempted deception. Ouch.

Steven spares no effort to help this Ruby. He uses a skill he’s never tried before - extending his bubble shield in a specific direction. He shares his only protection with someone who is still an enemy. All so he can heal Ruby’s gem. Gem healing is a completely unique power and nobody on Homeworld has probably ever been healed, but Steven loves using it to help others.

And, realising that it really is some form of Rose, the Ruby tries to poof Steven. Ruby doesn’t know what it’ll do to a half-gem, half-human. Ruby, like Jasper, blames Steven for what his mother did. Ruby doesn’t know how she can even get back to Homeworld with it - there’s basically no way. But she doesn’t care, and Steven’s reasoning with her after those kindnesses crucially doesn’t work. She says “I’ve made up my mind”. She would unknowingly kill Steven. But Steven realises that even after apologies, kindness and sacrifices, he can’t change someone’s mind. So he acts in self-defense.

Ruby may not be dead, but she’s going to float off in space, alone. Steven did everything he could before resorting to it. But for his own life, and for everything he means to the Crystal Gems, he had to do something against his morals, and throw another gem aside, ignoring his instinct to help her. He had no other choice. Like Rose, he was far from home, being attacked, and just like how Pink Diamond was dedicated to destruction, this Ruby made it clear she was dedicated to hurting him.

Steven bubbles himself with rose petals and accepts that once again, a Rose Quartz did what was absolutely necessary, because war makes people do these things. Sometimes people want to hurt you and what you stand for, and sometimes, you have to take action against them.

Rose lived with her choices for five thousand years and then decided to become Steven, to make someone with a gem’s strength and a human’s empathy, who might be better than herself.

“She didn’t always do what was best for her… but she always did what was best for Earth.”