{"id":6856,"date":"2018-05-15T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6856"},"modified":"2018-05-12T14:20:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-12T21:20:27","slug":"mark-watches-steven-universe-s05e18-a-single-pale-rose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/05\/mark-watches-steven-universe-s05e18-a-single-pale-rose\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Steven Universe’: S05E18 – A Single Pale Rose"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of Steven Universe<\/i>, I need help. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Steven Universe<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For continued discussion of trauma\/PTSD, war, slavery, consent, colonization<\/b>.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to do with this. I genuinely don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Like, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m used to Steven Universe<\/i> delivering shockers and plot twists, or messing with the audience, or subverting tropes that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so familiar with that I expect them. But this is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what the hell, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all? What the hell did this show do<\/i>? This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just shaking things up. This WHOLE SHOW got re-written, and I am not sure that I like it? I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say I have definitive feelings on it yet, but how? How was this the truth the whole<\/i> time? And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even that it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fit or that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impossible that this was what the show always planned. But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this change the entire meaning of Rose Quartz AND Steven Universe<\/i>?<\/p>\n

See, about halfway through this, I was doing that thing I do where I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m composing a review in my head. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Single Pale Rose,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d while heavy-handed in its metaphor, still managed to visually produce a manifestation of compartmentalization, and y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I. Loved. It. A LOT. Those of use who have experienced trauma, and those of us who have to deal with PTSD as a result, might be very<\/i> familiar with what we see onscreen here. In order for me to make it through the world\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand often, to just be able to function on a day-to-day basis\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI have to compartmentalize. I have to trick my brain into not<\/i> consciously thinking about some of the terrible shit I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve experienced. On days when this doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen, which almost always coincides with being triggered, my whole day can come to a grinding halt. So, I cope, and my brain has stashed things away that take a lot to dredge up.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still an element of that here in this episode, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know if that intent is fully realized with the big twist at the end. Yes, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure that Pearl was traumatized by this war, but my theory from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Go Back\u00e2\u20ac\u009d isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t what actually happened. Pearl didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t kill anyone<\/i>. And the only reason the memory of what Rose Quartz asked her to do is buried so deeply within Pearl is because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the last thing she required of her.
\nSo\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 is that compartmentalization, or is it manipulation?<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the sort of complication I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m dealing with for the entire show<\/i>. What scenes from the past now have a new, sinister meaning because of the reveal that Pink Diamond never died? How many moments from this war are a lie? Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear Amethyst and Garnet had no idea that Pink Diamond morphed<\/i> into Rose Quartz, that one of the very Diamonds they were fighting was alongside them and responsible for starting the rebellion. (OH, JESUS, THE IMPLICATIONS FOR BISMUTH ARE EVEN MORE HORRIFYING NOW, GREAT. ROSE WAS SAYING IT WAS IMMORAL TO SHATTER A GEM AND THEN JUST FAKED ONE SO THEY COULD GET WHAT THEY WANT.) This lie has such far-reaching implications that I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even possibly think of them all. What changed? What made Pink Diamond abandon her desire to colonize Earth? Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, that means Rose Quartz is actually a colonizer who had a child with someone whose planet she was going<\/i> to colonize. What the fuck?<\/b> Steven is the product of the very fucking colonizer he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fighting against?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Pearl, who we learn LITERALLY COULD NOT DISOBEY PINK DIAMOND\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S FINAL ORDER TO HER. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly rank which one of these after-the-fact epiphanies upsets me more, but this is pretty far up there. Pink Diamond wanted<\/i> to grant the Crystal Gems freedom to be who they are, to liberate them from the violent hierarchy of Homeworld. Why? Well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hoping future episodes address this, because we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really know why<\/i> Pink Diamond would go through a spiritual and physical transformation like this. I suppose there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something interesting about one of the Diamonds rejecting Homeworld culture, but what does this mean for Pearl? How much of her love and adoration of Rose Quartz is due to the fact that Rose once owned<\/i> her? Like, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to invalidate Pearl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feelings, but like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 holy shit, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s her OWNER. And yes, Rose \u00e2\u20ac\u0153freed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d her of her servitude to her, but how are you gonna allow a relationship like the one they had to foster and grow?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Actually, let me take it a step further: is Pearl really free if, at the last second, Pink Diamond ordered Pearl not to ever tell the truth about her identity? Because that makes me so incredibly uncomfortable. You cannot grant someone freedom and then restrict their actions. In the end, Pearl cannot choose perhaps one of the most vital aspects of free will: telling the truth.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m upset. And perhaps all of this is going to be addressed in some manner. Hell, it needs<\/i> to be. Where is the line between these two worlds? How does a person go from being a violent oppressor to the loving, accepting character we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve known for five whole seasons? (And yes, Rose Quartz has been complicated due to various storylines, but that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean we saw her as a villain.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS AND IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GOING TO BE A MILLION YEARS UNTIL THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE ANSWERED.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Single Pale Rose\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"