What #StevenBomb4 taught us about Gems

There is a lot that we still don’t know about Gems, even after #StevenBomb4. At the front of the mind (ours at least) might very well be the question of where Gemkind came from? We learned a bit more about them though: a bit of confirmation about how same-gem fusions work, and Gemkind’s mission to conquer the universe.

Intergalactic conquest

The Gems apparently have high goals set for them: according to Peridot, all Gems are designed to conquer other planets. This specifically accounts for their unexplained ability to experience Earth-like gravity regardless of the actual gravitational pull of whatever planetoid they are on.

Of course we don’t know why the Gems have this mission, so right now planetary conquest is just sort of what they do. Peridot’s explanation of Gems’ purpose and of the Diamond Authority make it sound like the Diamonds are responsible for designing most of (if not all of) the Gems, but even if that’s true we don’t have any solid grounds for deciphering the Diamonds’ motivation.

We can clearly see from Peridot’s adulation and subsequent renunciation of Yellow Diamond that the Diamonds are put on a pedestal, and that Peridot believes her to have Gemkind’s interests at heart. Of course when Yellow Diamond reveals that she is motivated by a grudge against Earth, to the point where she cares nothing for how Earth may still be used to benefit the Gems, she brings that assumption into question for both Peridot and us.

Fusion and the Diamonds

Another fan assumption, already hinted at in the guide book, was vindicated when The Answer aired: we finally knew for sure that when multiple Gems of the same type fused, the result was a bigger, stronger version of that Gem. We also learned that while the homeworld dislikes fusion in general, that there was nothing at all wrong with this kind of fusion being used for battle.

Of course we also saw how much Gems dislike the kind of fusion we were already familiar with from earlier in the series: the fusion of different Gem types that gave us Garnet, Opal, Sugilite, Alexandrite, Rainbow Quartz, Sardonyx, and even Malachite. This type of fusion is, to put it lightly, severely frowned upon.

If the Diamonds did design the other Gems, then this revulsion (which Blue Diamond did display) makes it very unlikely that they fully understand the workings of the gem. Whatever their reason for disliking different-type fusion, it would be expected that if they didn’t like the ability, and they designed the Gems, then they’d have removed the power if they knew how.

This isn’t the only power that raises an eyebrow: Pearl, a mere servant, is able to summon a weapon. Homeworld isn’t the type of place that seems to believe in cross-training, so why would a servant be given the ability to call a weapon unless the ability to summon one is so core to what makes a Gem a Gem that it can’t be removed with the level of understanding that the Diamonds have?

Of course it was never explicitly stated that the Diamonds designed the other Gems. It’s possible that Pearls were made for fighting after all, and the homeworld simply uses them as servants. There’s a lot of show left to go, so we may yet see this mystery solved.

3 comments

    • Jordi on February 3, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    yeah, I think weapon summoning is a inherent ability of Gems, even the ones like Lapis Lazuli that has hidrokinesis as a “weapon” but even she can summon a manifestation of that ability, her wings. It may be a manifestation of Gem’s self-preservation instinct or something like that.

    • SUfan on February 3, 2016 at 11:43 pm

    Gems are like when genetic engineering leads to us designing our babies. Some are made to do this. Some are made to do that but they are still human, or in this case Gems, and still have core Gem abilities. Gems are told they can only do what they are made to do so no one goes about discovering this hidden power. That they can do whatever they wish. After all Gems aren’t robots, they are still people with emotions and wants and opinions.

    • Heywood_Floyd on February 8, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    We’ve never answered WHY Homeworld hates dissimilar-Gem fusion. I think it has to do with their true origin, that the Gems as a species are the remnants of a greater alien culture that tried to make crystalline beings as servants or explorers or soldiers and the first Gems rebelled, fled, and created a culture on Homeworld that is now a massive empire. The idea of creating new people through fusion breaks a very rigid class structure which is a “ghost in the system” of that original conditioning laid down by whomever created the Gems. Steven’s mere existence utterly destroys any reason for the Gem class structure; he proves that Gems can become half-biological.

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