Almost a year and a half ago, I wrote that the Steven Universe in Space arc was well worth the wait and imparted a ton of new information to the viewers. The recently aired episodes Can’t Go Back and A Single Pale Rose took all that we thought knew about Rose Quartz, Pink Diamond and the Crystal Gems and turned it upside down and inside out.
Spoilers Ahead – (Last chance to bail out before it gets spoiled.)
Steven has been struggling since he found out that his mother, 
Rose Quartz, who he idolized, shattered (murdered) her leader, Pink Diamond more than 6,000 years ago. He was then captured and taken to Homeworld where he stood trial for Rose’s crime. It was during the trial we learned how Pink Diamond was murdered (shattered). But interestingly, we also learned that protocol would have never allowed Pink Diamond to be in a position that Rose could supposedly strike her down. Rose Quartz had been a recognized enemy for several hundred years and there were no rose quartz’ in Pink Diamond’s entourage or guards. So the question was how did the rebel leader, Rose Quartz get close enough to shatter Pink Diamond with a sword?
The answer is she couldn’t and she didn’t. In a surprising turn of events, it turns out that Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz were the same gem. And with that revelation, our view of the heroic rebellion leader Rose Quartz shifts to that of a kowtowed youngest sister, Pink Diamond in family of ruthless rulers. It seems that Pink Diamond begged her older sister for a colony of her own (Earth) and then like a young spoiled child appeared to get bored with it. She complained to her sisters that there were too many “organics,” that the cities were too hard to dismantle and there was an uprising led by a rebel named Rose Quartz that was stopping her from colonizing the planet. Blue Diamond chastised Pink reminding her that as long as she (Pink) is there to rule, the colony will be completed. But Pink didn’t want to rule, she wanted to be free of her royal duties and live on the planet with human beings and her (our) Pearl in peace. So she created the persona of Rose Quartz, leader of the Crystal Gems, and led a rebellion against herself and eventually faked her death with the help of her Pearl.
Thus, we come to the crux of the Steven Universe story. His mother was actually Pink Diamond whose selfish acts led to the slaughter of millions of gems on Earth and the “bubbling” of millions more rose quartz gems on Homeworld. All because she wanted to have fun. The Rose Quartz everyone loved was nothing more than a petulant child who was directly responsible for Gem genocide on an incalculable scale.
The upside to this story is that Steven is not a quartz gem, but rather a diamond. In fact, he is the nephew of the ruling sisters (Blue and Yellow) on Homeworld, but I don’t expect him to welcomed with open arms on the planet. Being a diamond; however, explains all of the powers attributed to Rose Quartz much better than simply saying ‘Rose was special.’
The downside to this revelation is that Amethyst and especially Garnet now feel betrayed. They believed in Rose and saying that they are crushed by this news is an understatement. Everything the Gems thought they knew about Rose and the purpose of the rebellion was a lie.
On a more positive note, I give producer/creator Rebecca Sugar huge accolades for this Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz reveal. She has been cleverly showing us all season that Rose and Pink were one and the same. In the episode, Jungle Moon, we see in Steven’s dream Pink Diamond complain that she has no colonies, no armies, no planet even though she is just as important as the other Diamonds. We think this is a dream, but it is, in fact, Pink Diamond remembering. Nothing going forward will ever be the same among the remaining Crystal Gems and this is what makes Steven Universe worth watching.
Steven Universe can be seen on Cartoon Network.
