Fragments
Almost everything of this epilogue series has featured Steven face a lot of difficult conflicts with his relationships and uncertainty of what to make of himself. With instances of uncontrollable rage constantly coming as a result, you can tell how much of a bad effect to his well-being this is. Now they've become truly major issues with the events of this cartoon, as him if needing to go to the hospital and crashing his dad’s van weren’t telling enough.
Speaking of the latter event, it gets Steven an intense conversation from the Crystal Gems, one of the last thing anyone striving for independence would want. With mentions of his constant pink outbursts, one emerges as Steven uncontrollably puts up walls, yells loudly, and dashes away from the Gems to get himself out of the talk. If you think that’s bad enough, his issues get more serious from here. With the destruction of his powers and how he feels he’s lost the support from his friends, Steven dares to start confiding his issues to more dangerous Gems. In this case, he discusses them to an antagonistic Gem making a reappearance for this epilogue series, Jasper.
Right away, there are issues raised about her coping methods. She talks about how her rage, anger, and destructive powers are something she’s proud of, which is why she channels them and comes off as strong. This contrasts with Steven who fears his powers and secretly sees the Crystal Gems’ point that they’re a problem. However, as the cartoon goes on, he further sides with Jasper that his destructive rage is something not to fear, but to own. This is very telling of how lost and separate he is from people who actually care for him. Then, throughout the rest of the cartoon, Steven gets Jasper to train him to master his destructive powers so long as he eventually gives her a rematch of their earlier fight. For several minutes there’s a silent montage of Steven going from holding back on his powers, to being more willing to attack, overtake Jasper, and really live off the land. That’s an effective way of showing Steven distance himself from who he really is more than ever, a true instance of showing instead of telling. The same is true for Steven becoming more muscular and rugged than usual, a more clever way of how distant from others as well as himself he has become.
In fact, when the time comes for
the long-awaited rematch after three days of training, Steven is the one to
initiate it. All the events of the
cartoon build up to this barrage of action, and it captures the true feel of pent
up rage. Facing someone who encourages
this unhealthy behavior like Jasper no doubt makes it worse. All it takes is a statement on him acting
weak and wanting to see what he can really do for Steven’s powers to go beyond
the limit. He hits Jasper with literal
fast attacks, taking the fight to the sky for a while, and then the fight
reaches a dark end. Steven catches
Jasper in several big shields and then hurls a huge layer of spikes at
her. Ultimately, pacifist Steven ends up
committing the direst fate a Gem can face …
…and it’s shown in the form of the shattered remains of Jasper’s gem. In other words, Steven flat-out murdered a Gem, and still having good nature within him despite recent events, he’s fittingly devastated. Granted, he manages to bring Jasper back to life with his powers and all her pieces, but that doesn’t make it any easier to live with. For one last measure, he’s filled with much unease when for shattering her, Jasper addresses Steven as one of the most destructive beings in the universe, her Diamond.
This closes the
cartoon as a greatly told explore of Steven’s fall from his good graces into a
path of darkness.
A+
The Ranking
1. Growing Pains
2. Volleyball
3. Fragments
4. Bismuth Casual
5. Little Graduation
6. Mr. Universe
7. Little Homeschool
8. Prickly Pair
9. In Dreams
10. Together Forever
11. Bluebird
12. Why So Blue?
13. Snow Day
14. Rose Buds
15. Guidance
16. A Very Special Episode
The next Steven Universe Future review has Steven believe he belongs with the Diamonds, only to reveal that even they're in a better place than him.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a "CarolQuest" for OK K.O.
If you would like to check out other Steven Universe reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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