>The climax of “Steven Universe: The Movie” comes not when the hero battles the vengeful, superpowered alien atop the planet-destroying weapon. It arrives a beat later when the titular Steven and his adversary, Spinel, form a delicate friendship while standing in a smoldering crater of their own making. Steven helps Spinal see that although the trauma she’s suffered can’t be erased, personal growth is good and possible.
>Their rapprochement follows a slugfest as action-packed as any you’ll find on Cartoon Network.
>And creator Rebecca Sugar had to fight like hell for it.
>“I would get these notes that he should obliterate her and rid the universe of her evil,” says Sugar. “That’s really not what our show is about. But it’s what is expected from children’s programming — that if there’s a bad person, you kill them, and then everything will be fine. I just think there should be some alternative.”
>It was that kind of alternative thinking by the groundbreaking showrunner that went into creating a boy hero raised by three superpowered, female-coded, nonbinary space aliens — clearing fresh terrain in children’s programming.
tl;dr Basically CN wanted Spinel to be shattered in the film. Rebecca didn’t want that and fought to not have it be that way. Instead, Steven and Spinel become friends on top of the Injector.
It would have been shit, after easily redeeming all three Diamonds you can't kill off characters like Spinel or Jasper
Oliver Scott
>The one villain who didn't deserve to be shatter was originally going to be shattered because of the powers that be. Lol.
John Foster
I CLAPPED WHEN I SAW DARTH VAAAAAADER
Bentley Perry
Even Cartoon Network executives wanted to save us from this cancer
Andrew Ortiz
It's kinda funny ... Befriending the bad guy rather than destroying them is definitely subversive for a children's cartoon - but for Steven Universe that's just par for the course.
John Walker
based
Anthony Parker
>sucrose once again does everything in her power to ruin her own story I gotta give her credit for how dedicated she is to ruining a premise.
Christopher Clark
She was more villain than every villain except the Diamonds. She wanted to genocide all of Earth for no reason
Nathan Edwards
not like that, i just wouldve enjoyed the twatter fallout. similar to the kylo meltdown
Julian Gomez
>But it’s what is expected from children’s programming — that if there’s a bad person, you kill them
Literally the exact opposite. Lying whore, this is why Bryke had to conjure up the Lion Turtle.
Austin Bell
This is a sign that she won’t have much of a role in SUF?
Tyler Barnes
>being upsetti spaggeti is no reason C'mon now user, she was mad. Perfectly good reason to kill perfect strangers.
Juan Roberts
Possibly. But it also could be a sign that Rebecca wants Spinel to stick around because she has plans for her? Who knows. Rebecca did call Spinel toxic in an interview months ago but this shows that she believes in Spinel’s ability to change and to overcome her demons.
Caleb Butler
also
>It was that kind of alternative thinking by the groundbreaking showrunner that went into creating a boy hero raised by three superpowered, female-coded, nonbinary space aliens — clearing fresh terrain in children’s programming.
my sides
Ryan Rivera
They tried to fucking save us from sugar's insanity
Connor Turner
If they did then Steven would have died and the series would end, there
Hudson Adams
Careful user, don't question the narrative.
Jaxon King
In what universe is sparing/redeeming the villain "alternative thinking"?
Benjamin Collins
Transformers dud it first. Megatron has six gay dads.
>the narrative They never bring this up in the show ever. Hell they’ve been called “girls” and “women” in the show as well
Colton Perry
When I said narrative I wasn't talking about the show.
Isaac Long
Her motivations were understandable and relatable Her actions were not excusable But because she didn’t kill anyone, stopped herself before she could cause more damage and only inured Greg (who was healed anyway) I say she deserves a second chance
Nathan James
It's far more of a Japanese concept then an American one. I mean just look at Kamen Rider Ex-Aid for example. By the end every villainous or morally ambiguous Rider befriended Emu and became a hero and that's pretty common in Japanese media.
>Killing someone with the potential to grow as a character is bad writing You realise this is why no one takes both you and Yas Forums seriously right?
What universe do you live in? The retards who sperg online about how the show is bad day in and day out never shut up about how the Diamonds should've been killed because MUH FEELINGS AND MORALS
Isaiah Brooks
Do we even know if he can be shattered? If White Diamond can remove his gem and that doesn’t kill him, I don’t see how his gem breaking would kill him, either.
Angel Smith
Not him but there’s not enough show left to really grow Spinel. We’d need a few more seasons and she’d need to join the supporting cast before becoming a Crystal Gem.
Nolan Sullivan
The execs saw themselves in the Diamonds.
Asher Collins
That is pretty stupid given how they allowed the Diamonds, way worse people, to be redeemed. However, Spinel did not deserve the ending she got. She tried to destroy a planet and murder billions of people, and nobody called her out on it, was allowed to leave freely, was gifted a place in a beautiful palace alongside god-like beings and her victims paid for her crimes. She didn't deserve to die but she didn't deserve a happy ending either.
She deserved to stay on Earth and earn her happy ending with Steven’s support. Also would have been nice if she helped clean up Beach City.
Aaron Jenkins
anyone have a link to future 13 and 14?
Benjamin Gonzalez
>and that doesn’t kill him I dunno, dude looked like he would've bit it if he didn't reform with his gem soon after.
Luis Thompson
cursed image
Landon Foster
Would have been interesting if she somehow shattered herself.
Parker Kelly
It’s implied that she was in such an immense amount of grief after getting Steven’s message in the garden, she ended up poofing herself. Which led to her transforming into her current look.
Brayden Turner
>She deserved to stay on Earth and earn her happy ending with Steven’s support She had to at the very least help the people she hurt. She should have helped beach city and little homeschool for a while. Apologize publically for every bad thing she has done. THEN she gets to walk away on Earth where she can find her own happiness. Instead, Spinel is gifted everything she ever wanted 5 minutes after trying to commit planetary genocide. I can totally see why the producers didn't want that ending either.
That actually makes a lot of sense, and I'm surprised it didn't come to me sooner.
Kevin Watson
>THEN she gets to walk away on Earth where she can find her own happiness. Honestly if what you described happened, she probably would stay in Beach City. She’d probably make friends in the process and would feel comfortable enough around Steven to stay.
Eli Garcia
i mean surely there’s a line. it’s like if at the end of return of the jedi, vader survived and just joined in the rebel celebration.
in vader’s case he actually did a heroic thing at the end, but that obviously wouldn’t have made up for the countless innocents he slaughtered, thus it’s for the best that he was able to die right there and then. being a *mass-murderer* is typically looked at as a point of no return, is that unreasonable?
Kayden Brown
I don’t know if showing suicide is the way to go for a show meant to show people how to deal with emotions
Christopher Hill
She did not stop herself, her injector was literally broken by someone else and she could not continue fighting. She then fucked off without fixing a god damned thing to live in a literal palace with doting queens. But you consider her motivations relatable so you're emotionally compromised on the matter. Is there a single character that does not have the potential to grow? Sometimes the murderous psycho who tries to kill the main character has to go down, as horrible is that is for you to deal with.
She stopped fighting Steven because she felt horrible for what she did. Zero way she wouldn’t have turned off the injector again had it not blown up, anyway. And yes I believe someone like Spinel deserves another chance. It would be different if people ended up dying or seriously just, but Spinel deserves a chance of redemption. I do agree her going to the palace was a bad ending (which might be awful for her anyway as the Diamonds only see her as a Pink replacement; also White isn’t exactly stable)
Nathaniel Phillips
>turned off the injector >again How many times does she have to turn it back on for you to get the hint she is fucked in the head? How many times does a stranger have to try and kill you before you realize they aren't a good person?
All I know is Superman wouldn’t kill her and that’s good enough for me
Andrew Torres
>Spinel did not deserve the ending she got. This. She was way to unreasonably evil to people she knew did not deserve any of her anger for me to be happy for her. She at least deserved more of a beating for being such a crazy bitch. And her apology was half-assed. It's no wonder she's one of the only gems Steven seems to have zero interest in ever seeing again.
>Zero way she wouldn’t have turned off the injector again had it not blown up, anyway. But the point is she didn't. Say what you want about what she "would have done", what matters is what actually happened. And she did not stop her own injector. >Spinel deserves a chance of redemption Yes, but she also has to apologize and make up to the people she hurt. This is the problem with Steven Universe: abusers and criminals are forgiven by Steven and never have to answer to the people they hurt,
>Killing someone with the potential to grow as a character is bad writing How? The VA is expensive as fuck, there is nowhere for her to go since they rush her redemption/closure in the movie. There is no place they can go with her, her story is done. Maybe if she had stayed on earth, but she went to live with the Diamonds, so there's no way she can ever do anything worth a story or an arc. Dying would have been a better solution.
Brayden Morris
Only as a last resort and he never feels good about it afterwards, but even Superman knows when it's necessary to do what must be done.
Asher Moore
Only those three Kryptonians and Darkseid. And maybe Doomsday.
Evan Thomas
The point is that she wouldn’t and if she did, then she’s being written terribly because she would be showing zero signs of character development. Bar people aren’t always immune to becoming good. It's no wonder she's one of the only gems Steven seems to have zero interest in ever seeing again. Steven literally chased after her after promising he’d come back. The only reason why he didn’t push for her to stay is because she didn’t want to stay, and then the Diamonds showed up.
It’s a shitty situation all around, when you have someone with justifiable feelings of hurt deciding to take it out on innocents.
Sebastian Cruz
Ex-Aid is just as awful in redeeming villains as steven universe. That show even states that nobody who dies actually died and can be brought back. What a fucking shit season that was.
Justin Moore
Not Lex Luthor. And that guy just literally tried to doom the entire Multiverse
Jackson Diaz
>It’s a shitty situation all around, when you have someone with justifiable feelings of hurt deciding to take it out on innocents. No, its not. If shes hurting people who had nothing to do with it, those people have every right to kick the shit out of her in self-defense. Tragic backstories don't excuse criminal behavior. But I guess Rebecca doesn't get that.
Evan Wilson
>It's no wonder she's one of the only gems Steven seems to have zero interest in ever seeing again. Just wait. When Steven hits rock bottom he's going to remember how Spinel wanted to be his friend so badly that she was literally hanging off of him. He's going to try and use her to feel needed again just to discover that she's over him entirely and has fun with the diamonds, who also aren't as Steven crazy as they used to be
Christopher Ramirez
Of course Rebecca fought against it, she's a fucking pussy.
Carter Miller
Steven let go of her hand to show Spinel that it was on her to take the steps to a better life, and that he wasn’t gonna be the one to solve all her problems. Steven offered Spinel friendship, but was not intending to be Spinel’s only friend to latch onto (which she did anyway). Besides he motioned to her to follow him out of the garden, anyway. This whole meme of “Steven didn’t care about Spinel/hated her/didn’t wanna be her friend” IMO is bullshit
Brayden White
He's still killed people is my point. You can't reliably say what Clark would or would not do. He's done crazier shit. I mean, look at this face and tell me there is no way he would do it.
>Her motivations were understandable and relatable NO THERE WERE she was just insane, gems dont have concept of time
Landon Lee
I like integrity. Others would have caved in.
Kayden Lee
Remember: No one can ever criticize your actual writing or plot if you just let allow others to heap endless praise on you for subverting Gender norms.
Sebastian Torres
>if it isn't written how I want it is terrible Spinelfags are always appeal to emotion. He's friendlier to fucking Jasper than he is to Spinel. Come back to reality.
Well they didn’t. I mean Beach City didn’t chase Lapis in an angry mob after she nearly drowned the entire town. Why would they do the same for Spinel?
Cameron Peterson
I say he would have sympathy and wouldn’t kill her but probably figure out some kind of punishment
Colton Green
>gems dont have concept of time Didn't they do an episode about Pearl going so stir crazy on earth that she was going to kidnap Steven and fuck off to space for a century?
Zachary Johnson
>actually trying to apply a higher meaning/lesson to him letting go of her hand He let go of her hand because he didn't really care that much about her and was too focused on getting back to earth to turn the injector off. She literally asks >so that's it, you just needed me to turn off my injector? To which steven replies >No...well sort of
Camden Roberts
A hell of a lot more compelling than killing her off, that's for sure.
Too bad she's effectively dead by means of being written off the show a la Lapis, Peridot, Jasper, Bismuth, basically anyone that isn't Steven.
Luis Smith
>Steven literally chased after her after promising he’d come back. user, he ran back because he was afraid of triggering the psycho again. Then he pawned her off to the diamonds with little to no resistance in order to get them all out of his hair. He didn't even deny it when she said that she wanted to start fresh with someone else because she messed up too badly with him.
Yeah he had that on his mind but that doesn’t mean he also didn’t genuinely want to help Spinel at the same time. Even Steven realized that he was being way to stubborn about getting things back to normal. That is what got him his powers back. Steven wasn’t truly planning on abandoning her. He simply fucked up. >he’s friendlier to Jasper Nah he seemed pretty annoyed towards her when she was being all prideful and shit
>user, he ran back because he was afraid of triggering the psycho again. No he didn’t, because Steven isn’t self-centered. > Then he pawned her off to the diamonds with little to no resistance in order to get them all out of his hair. He didn't even deny it when she said that she wanted to start fresh with someone else because she messed up too badly with him. He let her go to them because that’s what she wanted. And Steven didn’t want to make her uncomfortable because it was clear she was too guilt-ridden to try again with him. Him literally pawning her off to the Diamonds because he found her a nuisance is extremely out of character for Steven. He wouldn’t have objected to her wanting to stay. He suggested she go to the Diamonds because he thought she would be happier with them. He even asked her if she could even handle them due to the Diamonds personality.
Isaac Martin
>If only there was SOMEONE (not me) out there who really loved you Spinel Brutal
Have you seen how fucking busy Steven has been in Future? With Little Homeschool and him trying to solve his friends problems. It’s literally one of the reasons why he’s falling apart mentally. Besides, how much time has it been since the movie and the last episode? He doesn’t have to check on her that soon. And you don’t know what he’s done off-screen.
Owen Carter
>and pearl was insane to Yes, because of the passage of time. Gems experience time at a larger scale than humans and might not have a natural lifespan, but they still fucking experience it.
You don't fucking get homesickness if you don't fucking experience time.
Xavier Russell
SOMEONE didn’t mean “NEVER ME, NOT AT ALL, FUCK OFF.” It’s understandable that Steven wouldn’t want Spinel to cling to him like he was Pink 2.0. Someone meant him, AND others.
Dominic Baker
Cold Take >Insanity under the circumstances was understandable. >She did no permanent harm. >The people whom she tried to do permanent harm to do not hold a grudge. >Ergo she deserves a redemption. If you're getting pissed on behalf of her victims in some alternate timeline that never came to be, you're a fuckwit.
Onion's a bigger villain than her.
Jaxson Murphy
Wait, I thought this new string of overly kiddy and saccharine rainbow puke "les be fwends:)" shit going on at CN was a mandate from the execs.
Apparently, there's notes of the fucking execs DEMANDING that Steven kills a mofo and to add violence. Are you telling me that the creators are making these soft kiddy shit? Like, how bad do you have to get when the people whose job it is to make things safe, marketable, and kind friendly are BEGGING FOR VIOLENCE.
He had enough time to visit Jasper. You know it would be quicker to see Spinel right? He'd just have to warp to her. He spent an afternoon for Jasper. lel. >don't know what he's done off-screen Jesus fuck you spinelfags are desperate. Guess he's spent months with Spinel all alone huh? We just havn't seen a nanosecond of it. Weird how we did see him with Jasper though. Fucking rofl fuck off you delusional freak. No one actually likes Spinel. The diamonds only took her cuz she reminds them of Pink.
Jeez. I shudder to think what the network wanted to do to the Diamonds.
Samuel Bailey
I still want her to be shattered.
Ryder Thomas
>Guess he's spent months with Spinel all alone huh? No? That’s a huge jump in logic. Steven doesn’t have a hateful bone in his body. Except for Kevin. Besides Jasper was on earth and close by. Bit easier to get to her. But you’re just that one Jasperfag who’s SO confident that Jasper is literally gonna be the one to redeem Steven from corruption because she cares about him SO MUCH
Jaxon Gutierrez
>Are you telling me that the creators are making these soft kiddy shit? This is the woman who openly tells people that you are a bad person for even wanting to kill Hitler. Stupid bitch refuses to accept that sometimes, some people just need killing.
Bentley Bell
>Besides Jasper was on earth and close by Doesn't Steven have an intergalactic teleporter in his living room?
Matthew Cook
When did she say this?
Brayden Lewis
It would literally be easier to see Spinel. And no, I don't care for Jasper, as always the delusional spinelfag makes assumptions he cannot prove. I prefer Spinel out of the two but it is obvious no one in-universe likes her.
Adam Hughes
>if there’s a bad person, you kill them, what is wrong with that? show me a jew that will save hitler's life and let him walk free able to paint like he always wanted
Jeremiah Martin
The thing is execs mandate safe kiddy shit, but if the writers of some show create a nasty villain, they want that baddie to be punished. If Summer camp island or thundercats roar has a villain attempting to kill all life on earth, those have to suffer punishment too.
Colton Johnson
>Did you want him to beg her to stay? No but he could have at least offered, like he does with nearly every other gem. He didn't even bring it up as a possibility. >No he didn’t, because Steven isn’t self-centered. Steven pretty much treated Spinel as a nuisance, an after-thought, or as a means to an end throughout the whole movie. He's a good kid, but he was obviously not in the mood to deal with her baggage. He kept as much distance between himself and her as he could, not even bothering to give her a hug or accept her dumb apology. I'm sure he doesn't hold a grudge, but I don't think he's comfortable around her either. Yes, it was her own choice to go with the Diamonds, but I'm pretty sure Steven wasn't too bummed out about it.
