Steven Universe S5 Episode 28 REACTION

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  1. This arc was actually airing during Christmas 2019 so I really like how everything lined up with these reactions. Sorta Stupid have such a unique way of discussing things, they don’t waste any time and throughout this series (I watched it all :p) their discussions and theories were super refreshing to hear as someone who was an OG Steven Universe fan. I remember theorising the exact same way when these episodes were coming out, the only difference was the brutal release schedule giving the fans time to marinate.

    Basically, this whole reaction series let me relive my childhood theory crafting phase lol. I love TheFlamingShark’s discussions as well, they’re a bit more in depth since he loses himself in the discussions, but there’s something special about group discussions. Something about how they can bounce ideas off one another that lets the theories grow while keeping pace with the series.

  2. if you didn’t realise, Obsidian is the Gem built into the side of the mountain above the Temple! It’s been foreshadowed all the way since season 1, since you can see the hilt of their sword buried in the sand when Lapis drains the ocean, implying the statue used to be hold the sword in all of its hands

  3. If you didnt notice that the pearl that white diamond have is originally pink diamond’s pearl but she shattered it.. then she was given the new pearl from white diamond

  4. Thanks so much for reacting to this show! It used to mean so much for me but after the finale I started to drift away from it. Watching you guys react to the whole show reignited my love for it, and I’ve gained a newfound respect for it too. At first I had mixed feelings about this ending, but now I love it for what it is. I’m excited for the movie and future! I’ve only seen future once, so I barely remember anything from it.

  5. I’m so excited for Future! It’s such a…. Well I don’t wanna spoil anything lol
    The only thing that felt truly rushed to me in this ending was Yellow’s turn around, I get Blue and White changing their minds so quickly for their own reasons, but I don’t feel like Yellow got enough of a justification. It’s a minor issue though, and there was nothing more they could do about it.

  6. Basically the ending was controversial, because people were upset myself included that the diamonds reformed so fast especially white diamond. That the diamonds conquered no telling how many worlds, probably committed genocide on many planets through war and even enslaved their own kind in a despot rule. But ultimately seem to be forgiven in the end and receive no comeuppance for it. I do agree that it does fit the themes of the show (even if I think its a bit much even for the show) and I loved yall reaction and loved that you all enjoyed it. I think a part of me has gained a bit more respect and enjoyment for this ending through you guys reaction even if i’m still lean toward negative on it. In ofc Rebecca sugar was rushed so its good to keep that in mind.

  7. I always found it curious that our Pearl is so different from the others we see, from White’s Pearl (who is originally Pink’s), Blue’s and Yellow’s, they’re all solidly the same color as their respective diamonds. But our Pearl, she is a mix of light shades of all colors, including white. I wonder if she was supposed to be White’s Pearl, or a combination created between all diamonds.

    And yeah, a lot of people wanted them to FIGHT and DEFEAT White Diamond, and felt the ending was lacking because of it, which I found weird as the entirety of the show was about forgiving, communicating, and loving.

    1. According to Rebecca Sugar, Pearl never belonged to White Diamond, but “White is involved with Pearls in general” (which I think refers to their creation,) and the official art book describes Pearl as “custom-ordered and delivered to Pink.” In the movie, it’s also confirmed that Pearl’s original look was the default settings for her.

  8. I think considering all the constraints the show was under, I can’t blame this for feeling like it wrapped up a bit quick. I do think the Diamonds ending is good for the “family” part of the allegory and for SU as a whole, but not great for a group of colonial warlords. it’s just hard for me to get past that

    1. While I agree it wrapped up quickly for their dictator status, it’s also good to remember the Diamonds are aliens and not humans + are not even close to human adults when it comes to emotional intelligence + as artificial beings believed they were literally made to do their duties + White has been stated by the show creators to lack an actual sense of identity and truly believe in her own perfection, which is why she has no idea what to do when she is proven wrong and is willing to listen to Steven who apparently knows more than she does.

  9. Hey you reached the episode whereI first heard my name. xD
    Thank you guys for watching through this series. It’s one of my favorites, and it’s gotten me through some tough times.

  10. One of my favourite bits of knowledge I have is the song change your mind was Rebeccas song to cartoon network and everyone else who tried to stop their story. In alot of countries they portray ruby as a male because homophobia. Anyway in the wedding scene Rebecca put ruby in a dress for that reason. Unfortunately those countries just didn’t air that episode. But I still love the big fuck yous Rebecca puts in the show

  11. Also, you guys were right on the money when you talked about why this episode was divisive people were not happy with the diamonds being redeemed they felt they didn’t earn the redemption but to that I say they weren’t redeemed I’m not even sure at that point that they truly understood Steven fully they just saw plain and simple in that one moment that they were straight up wrong, pink diamond was gone. There was nothing they could do about that it was just a fact that’s why the episode is called change your mind because your mind and how you think or what you think of can change in an instant.

  12. I know this season finale has a lot of mixed reviews among people. I personally love it, but it made me wish they continued the show because how they resolve their conflict with white diamond only brought up more questions for me if she thought she was supposed to be perfect and gems are made not born who made her to believe she was supposed to be that way because it clearly seems like that’s the thing they were going for

  13. Alright. Here’s the whole, complete story of the weird pacing, the Diamond Days ending, and why Steven Universe Future exists. It’s unavoidably a long one, but I’ll try to make it as far from a deranged ramble as I can.

    So, Season 2 was airing, Season 4 was being storyboarded, and Season 5 had just been pitched, with the wedding as the finale. Cartoon Network knew they’d lose ad revenue from countries whose laws restricted the depiction of positive homosexual relationships, and therefore wouldn’t air the episode. This was not the first episode the show had pitched that had this problem.

    Steven Universe hadn’t quite taken off yet, and the show’s creator was adamant about keeping the wedding in, so Cartoon Network made the decision to cancel the show. We know exactly when in the show’s production this happened, because the creator wrote a song on that day that was worked into Three Gems and A Baby, the episode they happened to be working on at the time.

    Some patient lobbying on the part of crew and a spike in ratings at the end of Season 2 convinced Cartoon Network to order 5 more episodes and a TV special to end the story. You’ve just finished watching those. Everything between Three Gems and A Baby and Change Your Mind is the writing crew desperately cutting as much as they can from the story for it to conclude in the time they were allotted, without losing the show’s focus on character.

    In July of 2016, Cartoon Network aired all of Season 3, one episode a night, to start clearing house. And the ratings were through the roof. There was more than enough money, way more than Cartoon Network had projected. Steven Universe became a flagship show, and legions of new fans were careening towards a finale that had been hurriedly cut and pasted together.

    So they went back to the creator, who had been lobbying for just one more movie to cap off the story, and instead of giving her the movie, they ordered the movie AND the back 20 episodes of Season 6 to follow the movie, with the stated reason being “no point in a movie that isn’t followed by more show”.

    And the creator presumably said, “but we’ve already finished changing the story to end here. It’s in production. We can’t change it back, how are we supposed to-“ at which point Cartoon Network most likely interjected with “MONEYYYYYYYYY” and that’s how Steven Universe Future was born.

    It’s not bad, but you need to really be watching and understanding the characters and their motivations. Most people don’t bother doing that, at least not with the antagonists, so it throws them for a loop when those characters start acting on feelings that had been subtext in the background, but never outright stated.

  14. The ending always gets me?especially when i watch reactions. idk why, i think it’s just someone else being there i can get more emotional

  15. The only thing i wanted more of was the fusions and more combinations of fusion like with lapis and stuff also was really sad that we didnt get to have centipeedle interact with steven one of the things i was really excited for since season 2 where they got her partially back 🙁

  16. Interesting fact is White Diamond, according to the creator Rebecca Sugar, never wanted Pink to have a colony because she saw Pink as unfit but allowed Blue and Yellow to give Pink the Earth to prove her point of Pink being incompetent. Plus which is why she knew Pink never was shattered but saw the situation as not worth her time, believing Pink would grovel her way back to homeworld.

  17. Watching you guys watch this was a nice way to enjoy the show again, thank you for the content can’t wait to see you guys react to the movie and future ?✌️

  18. awh i remember watching this i parts on youtube since it was the fastest way to watch it since it didnt air live in my country and i would be stuck at certain times in the episodes leaving me on cliffhangers in the middle of the episode cuz they took long to upload or got taken down so much hype

  19. It wasn’t until watching your reactions to ben ten alien force that I realized steven universe has the same ending as season 2 of alien force lol.

  20. I’m so glad you like it! The main issue people had with the finale is very much that they just “forgave” the Diamonds. But I don’t think they forgave them quickly, they needed them to fixed all of the corrupted Gems. So it makes sense that they’d rather get her on their side than try and like.. bubble her or something. Change takes time, and change is what SU is alllll about! People also really dislike SU future. So I’m excited to see what you think of it!

    1. i think the big problem is they tried to combine an allegory about colonialism with an allegory about a toxic family which i think is where it gets messy.

  21. Some interesting facts. James Baxter animated the scene when Steven fuses with himself. That’s why it’s so smooth.
    Also, when they land in White diamonds ship it’s the same shot from a season 1 episode but instead of Steven falling over in the background he lands gracefully in the foreground. Shows his growth. Of course the porkchop line from the first episode and “What’s your excuse” line is from the pilot.

  22. You guys are right. Some people dislike the ending because they think the diamonds got off too easily. I think this ending makes more sense. The show has always been about understanding yourself and others. Plus, the diamonds are basically physical gods and have powers that almost instantly disable other gems. Winning a war against them seems too optimistic.

  23. Congrats on reaching the end. It’s quite the ride. I remember when this released it was rather controversial for how “easy”(not my opinion) the diamonds were let off the hook for their crimes

  24. I’m so happy to have found y’all and be here for this journey. I just KNEW you all would totally get the ending and the message it is meant to send. You are absolutely right in that people who are disappointed with the ending wanted comeuppance for white diamond. And it’s not necessarily wrong to think this way either – the diamonds ARE dictators and colonizers, and if you only view the story from that angle it seems wrong that everything is wrapped up without any justice or retribution. BUT YOU NAILED IT when you said that white diamond is like “the mom you leave at the retirement home”. The diamonds as a plot device are meant to represent a FAMILY UNIT. You had it dead on when you said it felt right to end it this way. You definitely got the message Rebecca was always trying to send.

    1. I mean, that’s definitely the message of the *finale*, but I don’t know that you can say it was the message Rebecca was “always” trying to send when e.g. White Diamond is pretty much not even a character until less than ten episodes to the end of the show

      By far the majority of the show was very much not about the Diamonds as a family unit, and while it’s cool that that’s what S5 and arguably S4 were about I really wish people wouldn’t act like viewers who point out the switch-up are just making things up.

      1. I feel like that is where the whole feeling of the last season being rushed comes into play, to be honest – according to the art books, white diamond and the diamond plot was planned out well before the show went into production. Even spinel’s rough plot was forming in Rebecca as early as 2013. The plot in my interpretation isn’t exclusively about the diamonds and being a family persay, but about Steven discovering himself and affirming who he is. Coming to terms with the diamond part of his “family” is just a piece of that larger puzzle, as I understand it. I think if we had been given more time after the wedding, the remainder of the show would have been given over to slowly building up the diamond dynamic, but overall would have ended the same. That’s speculation on my part, and I agree that it IS jarring the way it actually panned out, but there is plenty of evidence in the art books and in interviews that Rebecca already had a lot of the larger blocks of story loosely laid out in her head before the show was greenlit.

        1. Oh yes definitely Steven’s (and Rose’s, and Pink’s) relationship with the other Diamonds is very much a key part of the show, even when that relationship was her “shattering” one of them. But the pacing is just so off – the resolution of that relationship ends up both not getting enough time to breathe *and* crowding out other parts of the finale (see e.g. the corruption being undone, Steven’s fusions with the other Gems, etc being crammed into montages). And it’s not like the show being cancelled was a snap decision like with e.g. The Owl House – the SU crew had advance notice AND got follow-up works approved (the movie and Future). So it ends up feeling weird that the finale tries to do so much in a not-very-satisfying way when like H-man pointed out we spend multiple episodes in S5…not really moving the needle much.

          My benefit-of-hindsight “fix-it” would be to just straight-up make the finale a movie. Double the runtime would make things like spending nearly a whole regular episode’s worth of time on Watermelon Island not feel out-of-place, plus the movie promo could be focused on highlighting White Diamond as a character so it feels less jarring that she’s really only explicitly confirmed to exist for such a short period of the show’s runtime.

  25. So you guys know how yellow and blue internalized grief differently, with yellow being anger and blue being sadness. White internalized losing Pink by indenial, it wasn’t her realizing that she was flawed that made her Change her mind, it was her realizing she was wrong about everything and realizing that Pink was gone for good that did, especially realizing that her ideas and beliefs were the very reason that caused it.

  26. Im so glad you guys reacted to this show its the reason I found your guy’s channel. And every reaction has been *chef kiss*. And I’m not reacting to this now but I will later and I’m just hoping you guys like it ❤️.

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