Here is a Pearlrose question that I find tricky. Why do you think Garnet seemed to not care that Pearl was upset but helped Greg in We Need To Talk? I've had people tell me that she was purposefully pulling Rose away from Pearl because she believed they were so unhealthy together (1)
(the asker goes on to say: “But I preffer the opposite take: that Garnet was actually so clear on Rose's love for Pearl that she did NOT actually realize Pearl was doubting It/ insecure. To her Greg and Rose becoming closer would just add to Rose's life, she had no idea Pearl could feel replaced because It was obvious to her that that was not the case)
oh i know exactly what you’re talking about, i’ve seen this before. i can’t wait to talk about it !
how garnet felt about rose’s bond with pearl
first off, i think it’s incredibly important to understand how garnet perceived rose.
“We never questioned ourselves, or her!” — Sapphire, Now We’re Only Falling Apart
“She had to. The Earth belonged to Pink Diamond. Destroying her was the only way to save the planet. For Amethyst to be herself, for Pearl to be free, for me to be together. For you to exist.” — Garnet, Bubbled
during the war, there were two opportunities in which rose could have harmed her. instead she accepted her; she helped her start a new life on earth with the other crystal gems.
of course she trusted all of rose’s choices—not only did she meet her as a leader, protecting garnet was the first choice that garnet ever saw rose make. she also witnessed rose make this decision within the first few seconds of garnet’s existence.
considering that garnet trusted rose and every choice she made (and everything she did during a war) garnet would absolutely trust rose to make her own decisions about her personal, intimate relationships thousands of years later.
sapphire confirms that garnet never questioned rose at all throughout the time she knew her. she felt comfortable as herself and she trusted that, if rose had a problem, especially a personal problem, she would handle that.
garnet was also aware of the fact that there was a lot she didn’t know about their relationship.
“And there they were: Rose Quartz, the leader of the rebellion, and her terrifying renegade Pearl.” — Garnet, The Answer.
during the war, pearl was rose’s second-in-command and confidant. considering that only pearl knew rose was pink diamond, and she hadn’t been rose for long, they definitely had periods of time where they’d disappear for awhile.
in rose’s scabbard, we discovered that rose had a secret armory location that only pearl knew about. later on, when she found out about rose’s lion and garnet mentioned that “rose kept many secrets, even from us” (which could have very well meant her & amethyst) she didn’t hesitate or protest when pearl replied with, “but not from me.” when amethyst yelled, “you’re not the only one who misses her!” that was the only moment where garnet looked taken aback.
garnet would never try to pull two of her friends away from each other, especially knowing that they kept a lot of things private.
since they did—she would also understand that any issues that they had, they’d most likely be solving on their own and behind closed doors.
there was no logical reason for her to judge the relationship, or believe another relationship is “better.”
garnet was also able to see pearl + rose for what they always believed in; what their dynamic was all about. they were always rebels, they didn’t see gems or life on earth the way that homeworld did.
(she likely heard rose refer to pearl as “my pearl” a few times throughout the war and later on as they lived together. i think that early on, garnet had a positive impression of the relationship)
garnet also related to pearl and rose’s relationship. a lot.
“That’s just how I felt when I came here with Ruby.” — Sapphire, Now We’re Only Falling Apart.
in homeworld, sapphire was described as being a “rare, aristocratic” gem. rubies were considered inferior and they are “for” the sapphires, to protect them.
however, when ruby accidentally bumped into sapphire, she spoke to ruby with respect and warmth. she was different from homeworld; she thought differently. she also made small talk, and the first thing ruby learned about sapphire as an individual was that she wished she could see more of the earth.
on the battlefield, ruby and sapphire ended up being the last two out of the group they originally had. sapphire was about to be harmed, but ruby saved her at the very last moment.
she prioritized protecting sapphire over logic, over consequence, over her own life.
so, of course, garnet understood pearl.
“Back during the war, Pearl took pride in risking her destruction for another. She put Rose Quartz over everything: Over logic, over consequence, over her own life.” — Sworn to the Sword
at a time when ruby didn’t expect to escape from homeworld, sapphire ran away and took ruby with her. she was able to explore the earth just like she wanted to, and she did this with ruby.
meanwhile, pearl and rose nearly fused for the first time and had a conversation about their feelings for each other. while sapphire had a moment where she was frozen, rose was frozen in her own way, too.
everything was very new to her, and even a bit overwhelming, in a positive way. homeworld had rules on how to interact with each gem and what to feel. on earth, rose found that she was completely in awe of pearl. she admired her, she would blush because of her. pearl would argue with rose (a diamond) because she wanted to protect her in every way that she could, even when rose told her not to because she cared about pearl. they saw each other as unique, flawed individuals and it felt so natural and right.
so, why question it? the only reason it’s perplexing is because of homeworld’s guilting and disapproval.
“Please don’t ever stop!” — Rose, Now We’re Only Falling Apart
“Don’t ever question this.” — Rose, The Answer
ruby and sapphire’s fusion helped pearl and rose, and their conversation helped garnet.
many fans might claim that garnet would try to pull pearl and rose apart because of unhealthy “obsession/dependency” on pearl’s part, but what they don’t realize is that this perception of pearl often comes from her behavior in the timeline with steven.
you know, in her early stages of grief. less than fourteen years is nothing compared to the 6,000+ years that pearl loved her. often what people perceive as obsessive behavior is pearl being fixated on the, in a gem sense, devastating loss of the love of her life.
(& not because she’s a pearl, or her original dynamic with rose. they were both against the beliefs of homeworld and their love only started when they were in a safe environment to genuinely fall in love with each other. because she watched the mistreatment and abuse that rose faced from the other diamonds, then they escaped together. she watched rose almost get killed or be in serious danger on the battlefield, but she managed to save her countless times. she watched rose struggle with trauma and mental health, and only she could fully understand why. she survived so much with her and they had each other, but she still ultimately lost her.)
obviously pearl would appear to be more obsessive when she is fixated on the pain of her early grief.
however, following the war, it’s likely that pearl and rose were very attached to each other.
garnet would understand this because ruby and sapphire are the same way. with the trauma that garnet, pearl, and rose had from the war along with homeworld, there was an understanding that they all held each other extra close, were extra “clingy,” really, because they almost lost each other.
ruby often struggled to care about herself because she was so focused on protecting sapphire.
this was a quick interaction they had in jailbreak:
Ruby: “Did they hurt you?”
Sapphire: “No, no, I’m okay. Did they hurt you?”
apart from strong attachments, there were other problems that pearl + rose might have that garnet would understand.
sapphire and rose shared a similar problem, too:
“I keep looking into the future, when all of this has already been solved... As if it doesn't matter how you feel in the present. No wonder you think I don't care!” — Sapphire, Keystone Motel
although rose never had future vision like sapphire, both of them shared a tendency to get stuck in their own minds/daydreams.
sapphire looks into the future so much that she can’t be present, while rose had a lot of dark & painful thoughts about herself. these may not seem similar, but in both cases, sapphire and rose would become withdrawn and struggle with communication in relationships.
they had trouble really hearing and processing pearl & ruby’s words sometimes because of everything going on in their minds. “i need something right now, in the present,” or “can you understand that i love you for you, i know exactly who you are and what you’ve done and yes, you still deserve me and you still deserve love” would be hard to process when your brain is saying the opposite.
garnet would know that they wouldn’t benefit from splitting up, because she related to them. splitting up (especially without communication and making that decision on their own) is not something ruby and sapphire would want.
understanding the differences between gem relationships and human relationships make garnet’s intentions in “we need to talk” more understandable.
“Uh... I-I don't know. I don't understand your human relationships. So... uhm... goodbye!” — Pearl, Full Disclosure
relationships between gems are incredibly different from human relationships.
i think this confuses people sometimes, and i can understand why. they remember that ruby and sapphire are married, but what they don’t remember is that no other gems seemed to get married. most of them don’t understand marriage, and the crystal gems themselves had to learn about it and understand it more.
pearl and rose showed affection for each other in a variety of ways—and yes, some were things they learned about on earth. however, this is love and affection. gems are unlikely to learn about more complicated things, such as human rules and norms when it comes to love.
gems never say that they’re dating, or that someone is cheating on someone else. they do not label themselves as being polyamorous or monogamous. they just love.
gems can definitely be jealous, especially when they were someone’s favourite for a very long time and they’re suddenly becoming close to someone else, in a way that they havent been before. gems can worry about not being a favourite, but this is more difficult for others to see and much more subjective than cheating.
creators confirmed that pearl’s lyric “she chose you” in it’s over, isn’t it was only about how she saw the situation and not about what really happened. this isn’t like humans, picking someone to date over another. rose’s death was very confusing and pearl was simply trying to make sense of it. rose having a child with greg and then no longer being able to live with pearl forever definitely made her feel as if she wasn’t chosen. but both of you helped her begin to process and understand her grief more. rose loved both of them. her death doesn’t change any of that; it happened for reasons related to her, along with wanting to bring life into the world.
i think many fans look at pearl + rose’s relationship from a human perspective. this is one of the reasons why, even after the creators confirmed that pearl + rose were not unrequited, people continue to think that rose didn’t love pearl.
but even if humans can’t understand it, garnet would understand their relationship.
it’s also important to note that pearl + rose fused in we need to talk, before greg planned on trying to fuse with rose. as pearl said, fusion is the ultimate connection between gems.
“She had control when she used her power to drag their fusion into the ocean. But, a fusion like theirs is unstable, bound together by anger and mistrust. If that bond snaps, their anger will take over, and destroy.” — Garnet, Chille Tid
“I embody my... I mean, Ruby and Sapphire's love. I'll always exist in them, even if I split apart. But the strength of that love keeps me together. So I can stay Garnet for a very long time.” — Garnet, Keeping it Together
garnet witnessed pearl + rose’s fusion that day. they fused very casually (whereas the other crystal gems only fuse in deadly situations, according to pearl) and that would definitely tell garnet a lot about their relationship.
garnet understood their relationship. human relationships, not at all.
many fans say that rose couldn’t love / respect anyone until we need to talk, when greg demanded it. he asked her if she’s been in love with other humans before, and she responds with “how would i know?”
this doesn’t mean she’s never been in love before. with the confirmation that pearl + rose was not unrequited, rose being referred to as the love of pearl’s life in the movie, and many scenes in the show… at that point, rose had been in love with pearl, but never in love with any humans.
since human relationships are so different from gem relationships, rose simply wanted to know how greg, as a human, defined being in love.
“Love at first sight doesn't exist. Love takes time, and love takes work. At the very least you have to know the other person... And you literally have no idea who or what I am.” — Garnet, Love Letters
as a close friend & as someone living with pearl and rose, garnet knew and understood them well, but she didn’t know and understand greg yet.
it was only a few months into their relationship. with everything that garnet said about love, there was no reason for her to “root for” or “prefer” rose’s relationship with greg over rose’s relationship with pearl. they didn’t love each other yet, and she knew that pearl and rose loved each other.
rose barely knew him and she barely knew him; while she trusted her friends and everything going on with them, she couldn’t have trusted greg yet.
it’s interesting to me that so many fans have focused on the fact that greg was the first human who rose respected.
while that may be true, i haven’t seen anyone consider how the other humans treated rose. it seemed perplexing to rose that greg wanted to get to know her and build something meaningful.
people focus on how rose was couldn’t respect the other humans, but if no one brought that up to her, it’s likely that they didn’t respect her, either. they probably saw her as a fascination, too, and they never even connected enough for rose to start experiencing human relationships.
when garnet saw that greg was trying to fuse with rose, i think she helped him because she realized that he was different from the other humans. special, really. he wanted to know rose, and this fusion/conversation could really help him build something meaningful with her.
garnet never saw pearl be jealous of humans who rose interacted with before, so she simply saw this as being another new bond between rose and a human, but this time, a nicer, more loving one.
before i post this, i have to mention another misconception i’ve seen:
garnet wasn’t looking into the future & seeing/accepting rose’s death & steven’s birth. it doesn’t work that way, especially because sapphire never looked into rose. either way:
“No one can see the future. I can see options and trajectories. Time is like a river that splits into creeks or pools into lakes or careens down waterfalls. I have the map, and I steer the ship.” — Garnet, Future Vision
“Rose hasn't shapeshifted, and she isn't trapped. Steven is a fusion. Rose could be trying to un-fuse.” — Garnet, Three Gems and a Baby
so there you have it. a detailed answer to a very tricky pearlrose question. the opposite take, as described after the question, absolutely makes more sense.
