Gem Corruption vs Steven ¨Corruption¨
When Steven universe future was first announced, many fans started supporting the SU fan theory that Steven would become corrupted at some point in the series. It was assumed that it was corruption since the fandom didn´t know any other reason of why Steven would transform into a gem monster.
In ¨I am my monster¨ this theory was confirmed to be true. Steven did indeed transformed into a gem monster but later returned to his human form after the gems reached out to help him.
My question is: Was it Steven´s ¨corruption¨ really corruption? Or was it something else?
To answer my own question i´d need to talk about what the gem corruption is first.
Gem Corruption is one of the most intriguing concepts in Steven universe, it´s an element that is crucial in the story and it was one of the first gem things introduced in the series.
Corruption modifies the physical form of the gems, turning them into monsters who are guided by their instinct and attack those they considered a threat. Some are more agressive than others but it´s worth of noting they appear to fight back when they see someone pulling out a weapon. For example: Nephrite in her small monster form remained friendly until Garnet summoned her gauntlets to extract the shooting star, making Nephrite spit acid everywhere in the cave.
In ´Monster reunion´ it was stated that it does not only affects the gem´s physical form but her mind as well.
¨It’s sort of like if MC Bear-Bear didn’t tear the fabric of his arm, but the fabric of his mind.¨
After Steven used his healing powers on Nephrite in ´Monster reunion´, her form became more ¨human like¨. She was capable of understanding was Steven said to her, she remembered when they played together back in ¨Monster Buddies¨ and she retained some memories from who she was before she became corrupted.
The downside was that she was not able to communicate properly with Steven, so she had to draw her memories in paper to tell him about her past.
Moments after Nephrite told him how she got corrupted, she started crying and lost control of her form, slowly turning into her gem monster form again. This seems to have been triggered by her remembering how she got corrupted and was separated from her crew.
In this episode was also revealed that the Gem corruption was caused by an light created by the Diamonds as a way of punishing the Gem rebellion for ¨shattering¨ Pink Diamond. This was implied back in Same Old World as well, but it was not explained in detail what it was.
In ¨Earthlings¨ when Jasper fused with a monster gem, she later became corrupted, meaning that gem corruption is ¨contagious¨
In ´Your Mother and Mine´ Garnet explained how she, Pearl and Rose were able to survive the attack thanks to Rose´s shield. This means that one requires to have Diamond powers protect oneself from the Diamond light.
In ¨Legs From Here to Homeworld¨ this concept was explored even further by showing that to cure the corrupted gems it´s require that all the Diamonds help in healing them, including White Diamond.
Each Diamond heals a different part of the gem:
Yellow Diamond: Physical Form
Steven (Pink Diamond): Memories
White Diamond: Mind and the one that sticks the other Diamonds´ powers together.
This was demostrated when Blue, Yellow and Steven tried healing Nephrite in the episode but they needed to convince White Diamond to help with healing the gems completely.
In `Change Your mind´ after they returned from Homeworld it was shown that after a corrupted gem is healed, they get some ¨scars¨ from their corruption like horns and spots.
What´s interesting is that even the Diamonds didn´t understand what corruption was the first time they saw a gem monster. They seemed to know how to heal them but they didn´t understand how it worked.
-The gem corruption was caused by the Diamonds
-It affects both the mind and the body of the gem who is corrupted.
- The gems who are corrupted turn into monsters/ lost control of their form.
- The gem monsters are capable of understanding and remember things when they are not provoked, like when Steven befriended Nephrite in Monster Buddies and later remembered him in ´Monster Reunion´.
-It can only be healed when all the Diamonds use their power at the same time on the corrupted gems.
-Only an user with Diamonds powers can protect themselves from a Diamond corruption light.
Now let´s talk about Steven´s corruption:
Like the corrupted gems, Steven transformed into a Gem monster in ¨I am my monster¨ but… the reason of why he transformed wasn´t due to the Diamonds using the corruption light on him, it was beacuse of he lost control of his own powers.
Let´s examine the scene before Steven turned into a monster in ¨Everything´s fine¨:
This episode is about Steven doing his last attempt at hidden his mental state from the gems. During the episode we see him destroying everything with his powers while he keeps telling to himself that he´s trying to fix everything.
¨I’m Steven Universe! I help people, I don’t… hurt them.¨
Once the gems try confronting Steven about what is happening to him, he breaks down and tells them this:
¨How messed up is that? That I’ve gotten away with this for so long. You have no idea how bad I am.¨
¨You think I’m so great, and I’m so mature, and I always know what to do, but that’s not true! I haven’t learned a thing from my problems! They’ve all just made me worse!¨
¨I’m a fraud. I’m a fraud! I’m a monster!¨
By believing he was a monster, Steven triggered his transformation and turned into one. This means that his monster form was caused by his mental issues and intense emotions that manifested in Steven´s shapeshifting powers.
That´s why the Diamonds couldn´t help Steven in ´I am my monster¨with their powers.He would remain a monster as long as he thought he was one.
Garnet:¨As long as he believes he’s a monster, he’ll stay one.¨
The only way that they were able to help Steven was by reaching out and telling his that they love him no matter what. Steven needed someone to tell him that they would support him with his issues. All he needed was someone to tell him: ¨Don´t worry, you don´t have to run away anymore because i´m here to help you¨
Connie: ¨Steven… you must have been so afraid to show us this side of yourself. But we’re not going anywhere. We’re all gonna take care of you the same way you take care of us.¨
Another small detail is that once Steven turned back, he didn´t have any ¨corruption scars¨ like the healed correupted gems had, that´s because it wasn´t really a normal gem corruption. It was a transformation that represented how Steven viewed himself as a monster.
-Steven´s transformation was caused by his intense emotions and thoughts about how he perceived himself.
-He turned into a monster when he lost control his shapeshifting gem powers.
-He was only able to turn back after he was told that he was going to get the support he needed so much.
-He didn´t have ¨corruption scars¨ once the transformation ended
-The Diamonds couldn´t help Steven with their powers as this was not a natural corruption.
In conclusion: The gem corruption is very different from Steven´s. The gem corruption was caused by the Diamonds while Steven´s was triggered by how he thought about himself. The natural corruption requires all the Diamonds to heal it. On the other hand, Steven´s transformation was more symbolic, as it represented his distorted self- image and he was only able to turn back after his family told him that they were going to help him.
Note: Tagging @im-a-tired @thatonedudeinthecorner since they wanted to read this post.
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