Steven himself so far has come off as naïve and clueless in
serious situations, not to mention pretty boneheaded at times. However, that leaves room for him to learn
things and really mature as an asset to the Crystal Gems such is the case of
this cartoon. Here, he becomes interested
in learning sword fighting after watching samurai movies and Pearl offers to
teach him, in the process showing off some impressive fighting movements
against her hologram opponent known as Holo Pearl complete with a soothing
music piece that matches the pace of the fighting playing in the
background. However, during the
training, Pearl gets stabbed by Holo Pearl which is sure to be shocking to
anyone watching this for the first time.
Adding on Pearl poofing away after getting stabbed, you’d interpret this
as one of the main characters getting fatally wounded. This actually leads to another interesting
factor of how Gems work. When their
bodies get damaged, they disappear into their gemstones and take their time to
heal and when they’ve recovered enough, they come back with a new form. Even if they are stabbed like Pearl, they’ll
be fine as long as nothing happens to their gemstones. It’s interesting information that adds to the
creative appeal of Gems, but in Pearl’s case, unfortunately for Steven, it
means a long time passes for her to regenerate and you can really feel how lost
Steven is without her. Given Pearl’s
motherly nature we’ve seen up until now, Steven’s love for her and depression
that she’s not around is very understandable.
Equally understandable is his decision to spend time with the closest
thing Steven has to Pearl, Holo Pearl, as a way to make up for being apart from
her. Through a series of mishaps, Steven
notices that Holo Pearl has a one-track mind of wanting to sword fight at every
given moment resulting in him needing to fight the hologram. This is where Steven’s character growth comes
in. Not only does he get that this mess
could’ve been avoided if he waited for the real Pearl to come back, he
remembers everything the real Pearl taught him about sword fighting, mainly
waiting for the perfect moment to strike, and that’s how he beats Holo
Pearl. It’s a rewarding result to Steven
actually solve his problem by accounting what was taught to him. It has him develop the skills and maturity he
needs to rise as a hero which he displays more of for the rest of the show.
It’s even capped off by Pearl finally returning with a beautifully upgraded
appearance giving further promise for more greatness from this show. This cartoon packs in a lot with the new
information on how Gems work, well-done moments of shock, humor, and heart, and
character development from Steven. Like
Steven in the fight with Holo Pearl, this cartoon is a winner. 10/10
The Ranking
- So Many Birthdays
- Steven the Sword Fighter
- Bubble Buddies
- Laser Light Cannon
- Giant Woman
- Lars and the Cool Kids
- Steven’s Lion
- Gem Glow
- Cheeseburger Backpack
- Serious Steven
- Cat Fingers
- Tiger Millionaire
- Together Breakfast
- Frybo
- Onion Trade
- Arcade Mania
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the mystery of Lion and the great friendship of Steven and Connie combine into the great viewing experience that is "Lion 2: The Movie."
If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far. 
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