Sworn to
the Sword
Here’s a cartoon that utilizes many strengths of the series,
crafting a wondrous experience of heart, emotion, character development, and
even music.
The whole thing centers on
Steven and Connie who have a lot of sweetness to their genuine bond. Through
simply hanging out at the start, how much they like each other’s
company is completely apparent, and you’re fully invested in what they get up
to.
Everything's put into motion when Steven sees Connie’s potential as an
asset to fighting evil when seagulls swoop in on his jam snack and she wards
them off with a violin bow. He
convinces Pearl to train Connie to sword fight, and how Pearl opens up to the
idea is interestingly executed. It's well known that the Gems don’t want humans to get involved with fighting for their
protection, but when Connie explains her willingness to fight for Earth, Pearl
is clearly touched and quickly starts the sessions. To see one of the Crystal Gems get on board
with building up a mere human as a fighter is a nice break from the norm and
what follows is an engaging story.
There’s believable progression to Connie’s
skills. She starts off taking the
training lightly, but through times for necessary adjustments, and fighting
through injuries, she becomes a sword-fighting prodigy. We also get some creativity in this
progression fitting into this show’s usage of music to emphasize what goes on. It’s in the form of a song,
“Do It for Her,” which puts all of Pearl’s teachings and Connie’s growing
talents to flowing, melodious music allowing this training sequence to stand out from all others. It also brings some interesting meanings to
Pearl’s ways of the sword like fighting for someone you care about, even if it
means seeing yourself destroyed.
Overall, the song is a major highlight for the cartoon, further
impressing how well this show can leave so many impacts through the power of
music.
Regarding the meaning of the
teachings, Steven further reads up on them when he learns that during the Gem War,
Pearl constantly threw herself into danger to fight to protect Rose Quartz
which often got her destroyed. Steven is
quick to see Pearl in Connie, as well as that, unlike Pearl, she can’t
regenerate should she get destroyed while protecting him. What follows is another example of this
powerful bond when Steven rushes to snap Connie out of her training mindset
just after she agrees that she means nothing when protecting Steven in
battle. He tells her she does NOT mean
nothing while protecting her from an attack, and in their own adorable way,
they agree they should protect each other as the “jam buds” they are.
As for Pearl, when Steven and Connie confront
her as a team, she lets it slip that her training really was used to recreate
what she and Rose had, further showcasing how much Rose meant to her and how
effected she is by her loss. Despite
that, through a civil conversation, she realizes her protecting Rose actually
made her feel like everything instead of nothing, and since Steven and Connie
really care for each other, it truly is best for them to fight together. It’s incredibly heartwarming for the power of
such a genuine friendship go noticed, especially since Steven and Connie
continue to train as a team to this day.
With that at the center of everything, this cartoon is a masterful work
of strong friendships, beauty in something like sword fighting, and enriching
presentations. 10/10
The Ranking
- Sworn to the Sword
- Full Disclosure
- Reformed
- Joy Ride
- Say Uncle
- Love Letters
For the next Steven Universe review, we go from great moments from Steven and Connie to not nearly as great, though fine to an extent, moments with Ronaldo. Things are made interesting through a documentary approach though.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a review of one of the more frowned-upon Hey Arnold cartoons, "Arnold Betrays Iggy" along with a slightly better cartoon, "Helga and the Nanny."
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