Could the killing of enemy Gems ever be morally justifiable? The treatment of enemy combatants during wartime is always going to be difficult subject, and it becomes even more morally grey when dealing with a species such as the Gems, whose ‘biology’ makes death-free conflict far easier to obtain than for us fragile humans. Bismuth undoubtedly went too far in attempting to kill Steven, even if she was under the mistaken belief that he was actually Rose Quartz. She could have helped lift the weight from Garnet’s shoulders, helped Pearl cope with the trauma from the war, helped bolster the self-esteem of both Steven and Amethyst.Īll of that is lost, because of a misunderstanding, and an intractable difference in opinion. She could have brought so much to the team. She was playful and kind with Pearl, snarky and spirited with Garnet, joking and genuine with Amethyst. When she first found Steven in Lion’s mane, thinking him just a random human child, she was sweet and gentle with him. The true tragedy of this episode is the knowledge of ‘what could have been’. The chibi title card is so cute that it’s physically painful. It simply comes down to a point which seems to be recurring again and again: Rose never wanted to hurt those she loved, but did so accidentally, through poor communication. Rose kept her bubbled among her most precious and beloved possessions. Bismuth saw this as a sign that Rose didn’t care, but we know this wasn’t the case. Maybe she meant to at some point, but simply never found the right way or the right time. But how could she explain to the other Crystal Gems? How would they react, knowing that Bismuth had attacked her, knowing that she had fought back? Would they attempt to use the Breaking Point themselves? Let Bismuth out, risk another confrontation, risk her murdering someone? No, she would have decided. Rose holding Bismuth’s bubble in her hand, horrified at what had just happened, wondering what she should do next. You can imagine, with painful clarity, how things would have gone down. Rose could not go through with the Breaking Point. That’s a big message from “Bismuth,” and one that Steven needed to learn sooner rather than later.īut another lesson Steven learned in “Bismuth” is that misguided though she might have been, Rose was not evil. The genuine, gentle giant voice that she used with Steven, the growl when she mentioned the Homeworld “upper crusts” and “elites”, the agonizing pain she was in (not from the sword she had made as it stuck through the middle of her physical form, but the feelings of abandonment brought on by Rose’s lies)…īecause Rose lies. Aduba didn’t get to sing in “Bismuth”, but she gave an incredible, nuanced performance as the episode’s titular character. Plus, we saw in The Wiz that she can sing, too, a must for pretty much any Steven Universe voice actor. Her timing, both comedic and dramatic, is some of the sharpest onscreen today. I was giddy when it was announced that Uzo Aduba would be the voice of Bismuth. With an errant snap of a magical tree, Bismuth was here, and just as fast, she was gone…but for one glorious episode, the Crystal Gems had one more member, and life was good. We first met and have been subsequently speculating on the mysterious bubbled object in Lion’s mane back in 2014, during “Lion 3: Straight to Video.” The fandom worked out Bismuth’s name, and during “Same Old World,” we even caught a glimpse of Bismuth, albeit through the stylized and biased narration of Lapis Lazuli. The Crewniverse utilized their first half hour special exceedingly well. Have you ever had a secret, something you were ashamed of, and you wanted to tell someone about it, but the longer you waited, the harder it became? For Rose Quartz, that secret was Bismuth.
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