Some thoughts because I finished rewatching Steven Universe. I donāt really think this is a new original idea, but Iāve never seen anyone talk about it before so I thought it might be worth sharing.
By this point itās pretty commonly known that the show offers no one conclusive way we should feel about Rose Quartz. She was a complex, flawed person who did good things and bad things over the course of her life. You can love her or hate her or be completely neutral on her and it isnāt per se wrong. Personally, I still really admire Rose for her continued effort to be better, despite her mistakes, and despite her upbringing as a Diamond.
That said, her upbringing as the littlest, and most immature Diamond meant that she began her life as an entitled, petulant child. We donāt really know anything about the Diamondsā origins, so we donāt know their relative ages, or if they came into the world pre-programmed with an identity and purpose like other gems, so itās hard to say whether Pink Diamond was supposed to be the way she was or not. All we know is that she was functionally the child of the family. And as the child, the other Diamonds loved her, found her at times endearing and entertaining, but also they were annoyed by her, and punished her for her spontaneity and disruptive behavior.
For other gems, undermining the Diamondsā image of flawless authority, or getting in the way of their violent intergalactic conquest would result in proper, dictatorial punishmentsābeing separated from loved ones, being forcefully reconditioned and repatriated, or being killed outright (or shattered in this case), among other penalties unspecified to us as the showās audience. But for Pink, she was a Diamond. She was family. It would be a bad look for the Diamonds to disappear one of their own, or revert Pink to factory settings using a rejuvenator. And of course, they did care for her. No matter what she did, punishment would have to fall short of the unthinkable act of breaking her.
So, the Diamonds handled Pink in other ways. When she made a scene, she could be locked away in an empty towerāa very cruel, high profile form of being grounded. And when she was simply in the way, she could be placated with distractions. A Pearlāliterally made to serve as her personal attendant and entertainerāisnāt enough to hold her attention? How about a gem literally made to be her best friend. Spinel. A similarly childish and cartoonish little playmate to keep her busy playing games and having a laugh so the other Diamonds can rule and forever grow their empire without their annoying kid sister to bother them.
And so, at the same time, Pink Diamond was both cruelly punished for her immature behavior, and encouraged to indulge in it. To spend her time goofing off in the garden so long as she was out of the way. A confusing upbringing to say the least. But this is exactly why Pink would eventually become the first gem to meaningfully resist the Diamond authority, to resist the idea that gems must serve and conform to their intended purpose, and to resist the idea that life is worthless or lesser without that kind of purpose. Pinkās environment drove her to change. She was the only gem that the Diamonds actively wanted to change, and the only gem that they would be unwilling to break for daring to try.
Pink was still very childish and immature when she began begging for her own colony, to the point of throwing tantrums when the other Diamonds naturally refused. To the point of carelessly breaking one of her toysāthat is to say, her Pearl. That may have been a bit of a wake up call for her, or at least reason to be a bit more self-aware, and careful with her thoughts and feelings. Her replacement Pearlāthe Pearl we know as the rebel Crystal Gemānever knew Pink Diamond to throw tantrums or break her things. Instead, this was the Pink Diamond who could convince the Diamonds that she could handle a colony.
This version of Pink still played with Spinel, but seemingly tried to hide her more childish nature from the other Diamonds, and, based on a scene from Steven Universe: The Movie, may have been a bit embarrassed by Spinel. As Pink was trying to be more mature and take on more responsibility, her friend who was made to forever indulge her childish nature may have become an annoyance, or even a mirror reflecting everything that Pink was ashamed of being, and trying to grow out of.
Evidently, Pinkās mission to grow into a Diamond worthy to rule her own colony was successful, and she was tasked with overseeing the colonization of Earth. Soon after, Pinkās new Pearl, eager to please her sad, bored, and lonely Diamond, indulged Pinkās desire to see her planet with her own eyes, inadvertently encouraging her to take the shape of a Quartz to safely do so without getting in trouble. As the two toured the planet together, Pink began to realize the beauty of the natural life on Earth, which her colony would inevitably destroy. She began to realize a love of the Earth, and her freedom to roam its surface as Rose Quartz.
The protection of the Earth and its life became a new, self-chosen purpose for Pink. And as hard as she tried to convince the other Diamonds that her colony couldnāt and shouldnāt be completed, they still only saw her as childish, disruptive little Pink, making a scene. Of course she couldnāt handle her colony. Of course she was getting hung up on every little problem. Nothing to be done but placate her so she can at least finish what she started.Ā
Struggling to be heard, but determined in her cause, Pink used her new identity as Rose Quartz to publicly resist the colonyās development. If the Diamonds wouldnāt take her seriously as a fellow Diamond matriarch, theyād have to confront her as an actually punishable rebel threat. As she fought for Earth, sheād spend time as a ālesserā gem amongst other ālesserā gems, gaining new perspective on their lives and feelings. After meeting the fusion of two different gems, a common Ruby and a rare Sapphire, she would come to fight not just for the Earth, but for gems. For their freedom, for their right to self-determination, self-expression, and solidarity, even if their bodies or choices are considered āwrong.ā
Itās unclear whether Pink Diamond abandoned Spinel in the garden before or after she made the choice to stage her own shattering and live as Rose Quartz. It could have happened at any point between Pink being granted a colony and Pink going through with her plan to appear shattered, so we donāt know how much sheād yet matured at the time. Maybe sheād left Spinel with the intent to come back and brag about her new colony, only to forget about her as she focused on her rebellion. Maybe she grew tired of Spinel who couldnāt understand Pinkās rebellion or take it seriously. Maybe she cared about and remembered Spinel, but only thought to go back for her once āPink Diamondā was gone, making it impossible to do safely.
Whether or not she cared for Spinel back then, and whether or not she realistically had the chance to go back for her, Pink loved all life, and was inspired by others to grow and change. She sought to leave her old life behind and never look back, but itās doubtful that she would not have some remorse for her treatment of Spinel in hindsight. She never would have wanted Spinel to suffer the way she did. She canāt have expected that the garden would be untouched and unchanged for around 6,000 years in her absence, and after becoming Rose Quartz full time, all she could have hoped for is that Spinel would have moved on without her in some way. And after the Diamonds launched their final attack on Earth, all Rose could do was protect those closest to her, and continue to protect her now permanent home of Earth.
Rose was no saint or beacon of maturity even after that point either. She lied about her true identity, likely to run from her past and protect herself from judgement. Sheād left Bismuth bubbled for thousands of years, possibly because she couldnāt bear to face her, knowing her wish to shatter the Diamondsāherself and her familyāto prevent the kind of attack that ended the war. Yet despite her shortcomings, Rose still tried to grow and be better, to make the most of the life sheād made. She bubbled corrupted gems to keep them safe and free from suffering. She took in Amethyst and welcomed her as a Crystal Gem. She fell in love with Greg and learned to appreciate humans for who they are and the lives they live. And ultimately, she chose to give her life to create a new one, able to grow up in the way she struggled to all her life.
Whatever you think of Rose, she was trying to change for the better. No matter how cruel the Diamonds were, they were the ones who pushed her to change. No matter how slow and imperfect her change, Roseās dedication to becoming better, defying her nature as a gem and her purpose as a Diamond, is what brought Steven into the world, and by extension, what laid the groundwork for gems across the universe to be freed. Rose was complex and flawed, but she did her best to be better anyways. And thatās all any of us can really do.
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