Now that itâs canon that Homeworld has a very strict class system on par with Transformer IDWâs functionism - can we please discuss how painful Rose and Pearlâs relationship must have been?
Pearls as ornamental pets. Pearls as less than labor, less than personal assistants - Pearls literally objectified. The Pearl we know, as Roseâs own ornamental Gem. A being created as a vanity object, whose sole function (according to Peridot and presumably the rest of Homeworld) is to look pretty and obey their ownerâs orders.
Rose eventually realizing that this power imbalance is wrong - but also realizing that this is the only way of living that Pearl knows.
Rose tries to tell Pearl to make her own decisions. Rose is, after all, rebelling against Homeworld, presumably for freedom and choice and all that good stuff. She knows that Pearl will follow her because Rose owns her - not just because Pearl loves her. If Rose even recognizes that as love. From Roseâs position, this Gem she has owned for who knows how long (thousands of years probably, if Pearl has traveled through space with her) is devoted to her⊠but then, arenât all Pearls devoted to their owners?
Pearl imagining the life theyâll have together after the war, when castes donât matter any more, when Homeworld laws donât tell them what is and isnât proper. Pearl not daring to voice the hope that Rose will be able to love her like she loves Rose - all while knowing that they can never be equals, because how could they be? Pearlâs own conditioning working against her, dragging her self-worth back down to its âproper placeâ even after the war is over, even when Rose is no longer a Diamond but just a simple Quartz, please. Pearl has spent so long serving, worshipping, accenting - she doesnât know how else to be.
Pearl slowly, slowly realizing that the life she imagined will never come to be. The harder she tries to be pleasing, the more Rose pushes her away. Pearl not understanding why Rose looks so sad when she smiles at her Pearl.
Because Pearl is still Roseâs Pearl. Rose only tried to tell her she was free, that Rose did not own her, once - and couldnât bear to see the pain written so plainly on Pearlâs face, not so soon after the pain and loss of the war with Homeworld. Rose knowing that, to Pearl, ownership is her only valid connection to Rose. Rose knowing that severing that tie, as terrible as it is, will only ever cause Pearl pain. Rose canât bear it.
Every âmy Pearlâ makes Pearl shiver in pleasure. Itâs a reaffirmation of belonging. Every order followed unquestioningly makes Pearl more confident and happy, even as it makes Rose sick to her stomach.
Rose loves Earth. Rose loves humans. And thatâs ok, Pearl reasons every time she wants Rose to look at her with a burning need that feels so ugly that Pearl has to meditate to calm herself into serenity again. Thatâs ok, Pearl repeats as a mantra for 50 years or so, because after 50 years or so the human is dead and rotting - and Pearl would never leave Rose like that. It hurts Rose so much every time. Pearl would never abandon her like that. Pearl is too faithful to die.
Pearl, the lowest of the Gems, looking at humans and feeling good about herself for the first time in her life. Here is something lower than her. She may be just a Pearl, she may be nothing to the Gems or to Homeworld, but at least sheâs better than these.
Somewhere, Pearl picks up the idea of knighthood. During the war she flourished under Roseâs careful manipulation, turned into almost her own Gem when she decided that she wanted to be useful and not just pretty.
But she is still Roseâs Pearl. Just⊠a better one.
And Rose canât bear to be the person she was before, no matter how much Pearl expects it or craves it. She wishes Pearl would defy her, would decide on her own. But Pearl only looks to her for guidance, for orders, for everything, and Rose loves to nurture but she cannot separate Pearlâs desires from Homeworldâs social conditioning. Itâs wrong, she thinks, to take advantage of her Pearlâs infatuation.
Because itâs clear to everyone that even if Rose is willing to cast aside ranks and all be equals, Pearl is not. And she might not ever be.
So all Rose can do is smile sadly and nudge Pearl in the right direction, encourage any independence she can. And all Pearl can do is try to please Rose.
But in the end, Rose is gone⊠and Steven is all Pearl has left.
