BISMUTH WAS RIGHT AND STEVEN ADMITTED IT I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW
i would say steven empathizes with bismuth, but not necessarily her tactics.
1. one thing he found solace in about the pink diamond reveal was that his mom didn’t shatter anyone. that matters to him. he wasn’t okay with that.
2. when he said that rose’s strategy seemingly didn’t make sense, he was talking about the contradiction between bubbling bismuth for wanting to shatter gems, and then shattering a gem herself. this is also something he stressed during “storm in the room”.
“you locked bismuth away because she wanted to shatter gems – but then you shattered pink diamond! i know what you are, you’re a liar!”
3. this episode, bismuth had to realize that shattering a diamond wouldn’tautomatically have fixed everything. she admitted that herself, just as steven admitted she was right about rose’s flaws. that’s kinda what happens when characters talk to each other about their conflict.
4. steven knows it wouldn’t have been that easy, even if it was morally okay. he’s seen how desperately gems love their diamonds – the prime example being jasper, who would rather corrupt than betray her. homeworld gems aren’t just gonna accept their own liberation. they’re indoctrinated and need help. that’s where we see bismuth’s true character flaw – she lacked that insight, or didn’t care enough about homeworld gems to put their roles into context, despite her liberation mantra of fixing everything.
that’s part of why this shot is given so much emphasis. what she’s faced with isn’t just a corrupted friend, it’s symbolic of the consequences of shattering. they didn’t truly win. they were almost obliterated. because they “shattered” pink, the other diamonds retaliated. they can’t fight themselves out of that one merely on principle.
does that mean bismuth was totally wrong? of course not. her position makes sense and is morally consistent. she is a fierce friend, and truly wanted to help her allies. she was even willing to accept when she wasn’t wanted, as much as it hurt her personally. steven knows that. he empathizes with her, and he wants her to be okay. she deserved to be at the wedding.
My favorite Steven Universe game to play is “Watch Rebecca Sugar get increasingly frustrated with the censors.” This last episode was basically “Oh, you want to remove the gay? Fine, but this episode isn’t going to make any goddamn sense. You want to just not show this episode? Then you’ll miss the Diamonds coming to earth and the epic fight this entire show has been leading up to. Guess you’ll just have watch these two girls who love one another get married. What a hardship. Fuck you.”
Blue Diamond: Able to remember the fusion that was formed by a Ruby and a Sapphire during an otherwise uneventful court meeting over five thousand years ago
Yellow Diamond: Can’t be bothered to remember a Gem who facetimed her and insulted her to her face like at most a couple months ago
bullshit central 