See, there’s a difference between “sympathetic” and “good”. That’s what some people don’t get about the Diamonds: they are simultaneously real, three-dimensional characters with thoughts, feelings, desires, flaws and virtues, and awful, evil tyrants. It’s important to understand that; thinking that people who do bad things are inhuman or “other” not only contributes to the purity culture that metastasized in Tumblr’s heart over the last decade or so but drives the fallacy where people think that because they’re not-evil/unproblematic/good-christians/etc they must be doing the right thing. I’ve mentioned before the video floating around of Adolf Hitler flirting with his wife. It’s terrifying, more so than any of his speeches or commands, because it’s a reminder that he was human, just like us.
We must be on guard against othering evil people, because it leads to declaring the other evil. Sound like anything that’s going on right now?
Yellow and Blue Diamond, because they’re real, three-dimensional characters, aren’t spending every waking moment crushing gems, torturing puppies, and ordering the eradication of inhabited planets. Yellow and Blue really did grieve Pink Diamond, really have been coming from the consistent position of “YOU ASSHOLES KILLED THIS PERSON I GENUINELY LOVED”, and that makes them sympathetic. What it does not make them is good people. They’re still tyrants, still oppressive dictators who murder dissidents and discourage individuality.
It never made much sense as anything but a cartoonishly evil revenge tactic to drive every Gem on the surface of the Earth insane instead of destroying them like the Diamonds were apparently trying to do, so after pondering it I’m okay with them “just” have been trying to dust everyone, but I guess I didn’t think too hard about why they did that thing in particular. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes.
i don’t think SU is wrapping up, and i don’t think s6 will be the last one, either.
there’s one important reason, and it’s one i feel don’t get talked about all that much: steven does not yet truly challenge the homeworld system.
right now, his real focus is to get white to help him heal the corrupted gems.
even blue and yellow – who he’s in the process of befriending – still own pearls. they still rule absolutely. they’re still only friends with him because he’s pink diamond. they don’t understand rose’s reasons for leaving them, even if they’re more willing to listen than white is.
this is not all that odd – most gems in the crystal gem rebellion started for personal, even self-centered reasons, only later learning to have compassion for the wider causes of earth, justice, equality, and gemkind’s freedom.
the more i think about it, the more i think the crew were very clever in not bringing blue & yellow pearl along for this particular adventure.
if gems like jasper and nephrite are to have arcs of their own – which seems likely, considering how much orange there is on the timeline, how the crew loves to tease jasper’s arc, and how steven promised to heal centi first – then corrupted gems benefits from being addressed before the homeworld system.
the diamonds are not necessarily the “final boss”. gems like jasper, nephrite, eyeball, and to an extent pearl, shows that the internalized hierarchies and roles of homeworld gems are perfectly capable of reproducing themselves without their diamond present to support it.
pink diamond, too, could not change the system – not just because she was young and didn’t truly grasp the depth of it, but because telling her gems to be free as a diamond would only perpetuate it.
the system itself may be the “final boss”. not blue, not yellow, and not white diamond. this includes the hierarchy, colonization of other life forms, parasitic kindergarten reproduction, and the unquestioning belief in a type of “society first” collectivism that strips gems of any personal freedoms outside their designated roles.
this is also why it’s so poignant that peridot isn’t there – she has great concern for the homeworld hierarchy, her old home’s dwindling resources, and budding plans for alternative means of creating resources. things that will be important for homeworld’s future, but may be distracting now.
the absence of these elements gives steven focus. he’s healing gems, not overthrowing the government he just kinda-sorta understands. yes, he’s been thrown down a rabbit hole where he will most likely confront some of these issues, but i highly doubt they will all be resolved right away.
SU loves to plant and payoff slowly – and that’s a good thing. we need to truly experience homeworld to explore satisfactory ways of untangling its problems. we need to address long-suffering characters, such as the corrupted gems we’ve grown to care for, to truly understand the depth of their devotion to their diamonds. moreover, they bring home how even perfectly loyal gems are – ultimately – disposable, for the greater society, when push comes to shove.
all of this helps us understand why rose came to hate her home planet and leave her family behind. seeing what she rebelled against, and why the system exists from the point-of-view of its rulers, helps us understand what steven can do. how he – as bismuth said – can become someone even better than rose. how the next generation can learn from the past to create a better future.
Stressed, Depressed, and Story Obsessed 
