There’s a slight change of pace. I’ve still got plenty of
ideas for RWBY posts. I just wanted to do something because I really loved the
episode “Too Far,” which has fantastic character development, even by the high
standards of Steven Universe, and some intriguing bits of world building.
I should preface this with the fact that geology is one of
my areas of geekdom, especially when it comes to gemstones, so I may be using
more science than other Steven Universe theories. Future posts are especially
in danger of this. On the capitalization, I capitalize gems when referring to a
specific character, but not when referring to that group of gem. The word gem
is capitalized when referring to the race in Steven Universe, but not real
world gems.
My basic premise is that Homeworld runs on a caste society,
and that system is based real world mineralogy. The caste system contributes to
the hatred of fusions. There may have been a way to get an honorary position
into a higher caste, but that was likely abolished after Rose Quartz rebelled.
Popular fanon believes that Renaldo is somewhat on point
with his Diamond Authority conspiracy, and the rulers of Homeworld are the diamonds.
Before the war for Earth, there were images four diamonds in Gem art: white,
blue, yellow, and pink. The Homeworld ship used by Peridot shows only three
diamonds: white, blue, and yellow. A gem called Yellow Diamond is Peridot’s
commanding officer. Yellow Diamond, if she isn’t the lead diamond, is in charge
of the section of space that Earth is in, since a yellow figure is shown in a
mural of the Gem’s war on Earth, most likely as the leader of the Homeworld
forces.
Popular theory states that Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond.
This could explain why there was no attempt to find a new Pink Diamond. Rose
has some abilities that don’t seem standard for a warrior. Her summoned weapon
is a shield; she has healing tears, and she can make warriors from plant life.
Amethyst and Jasper have not displayed these abilities (although this could be
because Amethyst is overcooked and relatively young, while Jasper is very
focused on physical strength), so Rose Quartz might be far stronger than the
average quartz, possibly other rose quartz, because she can function as a
healer and commander of her own non-Gem army. This could’ve earned her
promotion to the status of Pink Diamond.
Next is the quartz warrior class. Although Peridot had been
working on Earth for a while, and Lapis had been forced to stay on Earth for
even longer, command was given to Jasper who might not have been to Earth since
the war with the Crystal Gems, if ever. The theory I proposed in the above
paragraph could’ve given Rose fame throughout Gem society as the most powerful quartz,
so Jasper wouldn’t necessarily have fought on Earth to hear about Rose’s
prowess. To me, this is a sign that warriors are a higher class. Of course,
Jasper also probably has more battle experience than Lapis and Peridot, so that
could’ve been a deciding factor too.
Homeworld seems to be an intergalactic imperialist power, so
for the conquering they do, they’d need a lot of warriors, and those warriors
would be well respected, as shown when Peridot was ecstatic that Amethyst
thought that she was funny and was much more upset about hurting Amethyst’s
feelings than the other Crystal Gems combined.
Interestingly, the sardonyx gem is a type of quartz. This
means that fusion can give Gems a chance to change social groups, which could
be a factor in why Homeworld doesn’t like fulltime fusions, because they have
the potential to make a pearl on par with a quartz without the approval of the
Diamond Authority.
Next is heading into a lot less substantial territory. Scientists
like Peridot are probably another class. Another class I propose is an elemental
ability class composed of Gems such as Ruby, Sapphire, and Lapis Lazuli. This
is a less stable theory. Ruby and sapphire are variations of the gem corundum
and lapis lazuli is a variation of lazurite, so this doesn’t have the same
cohesiveness as the quartz warrior class. Plus, while Lapis’s skills are based
on manipulating water, Sapphire and Ruby have skills besides that, such as
Sapphire’s super speed and future sight or Ruby’s strength and weapon summon.
I think the proposed elemental class Gems would be above the
scientist Gems. The elementals have a stronger source of power than the
scientists, and Peridot’s comment in “Back to the Barn” about a peridot having
a pearl suggests that the science class is lower, so possibly one or more classes
below quartzes. Granted, based on the kindergarten, it seems likely that
warriors are mass produced at times, so it could be a very large class, and
since I’m making them second highest, they may just take up the majority of
pearls.
Pearls and other Gems that contain a mix of organic material
and minerals (petrified wood, for example) work as personal servants. This may
also contain materials like glass and obsidian, that aren’t minerals per say
but are sometimes considered gemstones. Alternatively, they could be a lower
class.
Most likely because of the severe discrimination against
Garnet and Pearl, the Crystal Gems do not practice this. There is still a clear
hierarchy based on experience, which implies that Garnet (or maybe Ruby and
Sapphire individually) is either older or fought in the war longer than Pearl.
Other Steven Universe analysis that I’m interested:
- Potential fusion analysis
- Character analysis
- Real life gem properties and Steven Universe
- The Crystal Gems during the War
- Gem mass
- Guesses about how weapon summons are determined (emphasis on guesses)
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