STEVEN UNIVERSE 5X18 "A Single Pale Rose" Full Length Reaction
Added 2024-08-21 14:20:19 +0000 UTCHere is my full length unedited reaction to Steven Universe 5X18!
Streamer: Max
Comments
To add to the "Garnet tells the story, and it looks like a storybook because it's not true" bit: the only part of the story that ISN'T in that art style is Rose shielding Garnet and Pearl from the Corruption blast, because that's the only part that was 100% true. And the fact that her shield COULD even protect them from the blast is another hint that she's more powerful than she seems.
MattTOB
2024-11-18 18:08:47 +0000 UTCI was giggling like a maniac when you said “watch Steven’s gem be Pink Diamond. Just kidding”
The Spider King
2024-09-10 12:58:48 +0000 UTCOk, i modified my original comment for that potential "framing of future events", any other stuff you wanna tell me?
Julio Castillo
2024-08-22 01:16:51 +0000 UTCGenuinely disagree with my entire heart and soul that this twist makes this show weaker. I of course cannot discuss more on why I hold this opinion until future episodes, but I in fact believe that it ENHANCES Rose’s narrative role in the story and is the crux of the show’s entire thematic point. We of course are entitled to our own opinions at the end of the day, but once again- please re-consider making comments on a blind reaction that frame future events in such an overtly negative light. Such comments can overtly skew a reactor’s expectations and color their genuine response to a show. (See: when MANY YouTube reactors were “warned” about Say Uncle being “cringe,” it lead to a lot of them dreading what was to come instead of just taking it as it was and rolling with the chaos. Meanwhile, Mikey overtly did NOT have this unnecessary “warning” and genuinely had fun with it.) We all want to be able to see his GENUINE reaction, don’t we?
Novantinuum
2024-08-22 00:52:28 +0000 UTCOn another topic... i think it's a very good idea that you make a Short on Youtube out of this reaction, but why stop there? you could also release shorts of your reactions to some of the most iconic moments of the show on Youtube. Obviously im suggesting this from a "Good for Views" perspective, and also because if you release shorts of several moments of the show instead of just this reveal... then the likelyhood of people getting mad at you for it will most likely decrease. Of course there's always gonna be people who will complain about it but im pretty sure you will have no problem ignoring them.
Julio Castillo
2024-08-22 00:45:01 +0000 UTCIm not gonna make this comment too long because there a lot of other people here who have already given very good analysis and details about this episode..... but... Even tho i agree that this is one of the Best Reveals in Western Animation History.... that doesn't mean i think it was the BEST decision from a narrative standpoint. Im from the point of view that the Twist of Rose being Pink Diamond actually makes almost everything else in the story worse/weaker. i won't go into much details because i don't wanna writte too much (unless someone asks me for something specific) but i will say that... while the reveal does reinforce the show in a "In-Universe Plot" kind of way...... i also think it weakens it in a thematic way. Althought i suppose i must also be happy because the thing this plot-twist actually did make much better in hindsight is non-other than my Favorite Character herself... Pearl. Everything about how her character was written up to this point makes TOTAL SENSE, her obsession with Rose, how incredibly devastated she was when Rose left, etc. It all clicks now... Pearl acted the way she did because.... She was the Pearl of Rose Quartz! or rather... the Pearl of Pink Diamond. She was literally made to live, serve, and love her owner.... her Diamond. And this also helps her character even more going forward.... because now that she has finally told the truth to Steven.... now that she has willingly disobeyed the Last Orders of her Diamond.... she has now taken the final step towards finally breaking free of Rose's influence...... free of her Diamond's Phantom. I have a considerable amount of gripes with this show....... but if there is something in it that i will always praise it's how masterfully well they handled Pearl's Character.
Julio Castillo
2024-08-22 00:32:23 +0000 UTCGo back to the episode "Space Race" from Season 1 and take a look at the symbol in Pearl's Space Suit xddd. You can also go back to the episode "Gemcation" from this same season and you will notice that Pearl already attempted to tell Steven the truth... but couldn't because of the Order to remain silent that Pink Diamond gave her.
Julio Castillo
2024-08-22 00:10:38 +0000 UTCI 100% believe this WOULD have been spoiled within a YouTube reaction, and while it's sad to know that about my fandom it's simply the truth, ahah. That's why I've tried my best to gently remind folks in the comments on occasion to not even give expectation spoilers if one can so help it, because I really care about people getting to experience as genuine a reaction as they can. And damn, was it worth it! What a response! I was grinning like a loon watching the penny drop for you, ahah. (Particularly the "wouldn't it be wild if Steven were somehow-" comment RIGHT before the reveal, when Pearl was holding out that diamond to him and it was Conveniently just his size when shown right next to him. Ohohoh I was losing it.) But yeah, wow- until this episode I was only casually keeping up with the show, but the reveal here so monumentally re-contextualized the whole show in such a fascinating way that it inspired me to draw my first serious piece of fanart and actually get involved with other fans. I genuinely CANNOT understate just how much this reveal transforms every aspect of the dynamics of this show you've seen previously, and how much it elevates past episodes to intensely re-watchable. I do not think I've ever personally experienced a plot "twist" in fiction that had its smaller puzzle piece details so well hidden in plain sight. And quite frankly, the reasoning for this is simply because Rebecca Sugar overtly had this plot detail set in stone from the very beginning and stuck to her guns. Crew members on the show always say that Rose (and by proxy, Steven) being Pink Diamond was one of the FIRST bits of long term lore they learned upon taking the job. Everything about the story circled back to eventually stepping towards this moment. Here are a few details off the top of my mind that I still think back to: -Way back in episode six, we learn about Pearl's distaste for shapeshifting. "Just because you CAN shapeshift doesn't mean you SHOULD." This remains a character detail for her the entire show. Pearl is never seen using these abilities, and now we know WHY- because the last time she did, it was while she was helping Rose fake her death, and this was immensely traumatizing to her. -Just. All of Steven and Rose's insane powers in general. For the entire show, every other Gem generally had just a small handful of core abilities, and that's it. But then... for Steven, they just kept cropping up. A shield. A bubble. Healing magic. The ability to create sentient plant life. Highly amped magic empathy that lets him telepathically connect to others. Floating. Dream walking. POSSESSION of people's bodies. The ability to BRING PEOPLE BACK FROM THE DEAD. Absolutely insane stuff this child is doing. And because the plot was so good at just weaving these new abilities into the narrative, no one really-? Questioned it, for a long time? SOME theorizers did, but it was always kinda an interesting Hole in the Tapestry Rose Fabricated that she was totally a completely normal, ordinary Rose Quartz incubated on Earth and always had such immense power. And now, with this revelation- all of this retroactively makes SENSE. Steven was a diamond this whole time and we never knew it. -Everything about how messed up Pearl was about Rose. The episode Rose's Scabbard. The way Pearl was SO upset that she never knew about Lion, that there was something Rose kept hidden even from HER. Garnet- "Rose kept many things secret, even from us." Pearl- "But not from ME! I was the one she told everything!" Because Pearl was the ONLY one who knew Rose's deepest secret, the secret to trump them all. -The season three finale, Bubbled. There's one very cheeky moment here. Eyeball: "That's more of a pinkish-red than a real Rose Quartz reddish-pink." This is excused within the actual episode as being because she's looking through Steven's bubble, but... this ruby is RIGHT. Steven's gem IS different than an actual rose quartz. It makes me wonder if other gems genuinely might be able to tell the difference if they looked at it long enough without the bubble in the way. The thing is- it's just SO wild an idea that I doubt anyone in this narrative would've even bothered entertaining it. -Steven's Dream. Blue Diamond's first fully voiced on screen appearance beyond her cameo in Garnet's stories of the past. Well, we sure know why Steven kept dreaming about the diamonds, huh? Why he felt such an innate connection with them? And not only that, but with this plot reveal in mind- the moment where Blue Diamond and Greg both connect over their mourning, Blue about Pink, Greg about Rose... they are mourning the SAME person. They just don't know it yet. -Beyond that, the very fact that the narrative even focuses on Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond's grief for Pink at all in the eps that come after. We get a whole SONG about it, and Steven is there to witness. He takes a long look at the bubbled Rose Quartzes in that room and believes himself to be in a space with his kin, and he's Not wrong- he's just mistaken on WHO he is kin to. -This line from Pearl when the Crystal Gems are about to infiltrate the Zoo. "Right, like we could just waltz up as an ownerless Pearl, a fusion and-" [pauses as she nervously gestures at Steven] "and *you*..." And... and a diamond?? Is that what you were thinking, Pearl? About how dangerous it is to bring Rose's own son to a Homeworld facility where it's not outside the realm of possibility that his gem's identity could be discovered, if they somehow made the wrong move? -And even the Diamonds hadn't figured any of this out. You can tell Blue Diamond's mind was churning in the trial, that she felt something was off... she questioned how Pink could be shattered by a sword of all things, and was desperate to find true, concrete answers. Yellow's anger is now re-framed as Not her trying to dodge responsibility, but rather her poor coping amidst her own grief. Unlike Blue, she didn't want answers- she just wanted blind retribution. Hollow closure. -Stevonnie's dream on the jungle moon makes SO much more sense now, because it's overtly re-framed as them experiencing a memory from their gem. Steven says just an episode later to Garnet that he "felt such a strong connection" to Pink in that dream, and that is because he IS Pink. Or, well, he HAS pink's gem. Even the way Garnet's retelling of the rebellion goes in this one makes sense with this new context- Rose "confronting" Pink is just a story. It's hearsay. It's what Rose wanted her rebellion to hear. And the episode backs that up by giving us flowery, manufactured, storybook imagery and having Garnet do all the voices for Rose and Pink instead of showing us an actual flashback to this false "moment." Just... gosh. I am only scraping the top of the barrel here with these details. Truly an incredibly executed plot development. Even beyond the hype of learning such a wild truth about a major character, it's simply a GOOD episode. The music is top notch, we learn a lot about Pearl as a person and how her mind operates, there's a number of amusing moments, and the narrative steps us up to that reveal in such a satisfying way, like unraveling a wrapped gift. Your face said it all in that reaction. Once again, this is *why* we watch reactions. This is why I dropped everything to subscribe to your patreon after years of watching for free on YouTube- this show is THAT good to me, and I value seeing genuine reactions to it that much. Thank you so much!
Novantinuum
2024-08-21 20:36:45 +0000 UTCSteven a better person than me If I was him I'd take that thing out of my stomach and finish the job myself
jac jacob israel
2024-08-21 20:12:55 +0000 UTCThat’s a very good point. A lot of my times my theories are worked out when I’m rewatching while editing, not during my recordings. Obviously I haven’t had to edit these, so I never have really rewatched the episodes
mikeyventure
2024-08-21 17:10:27 +0000 UTCThis reaction did not disappoint at all! I think it might be my favorite reaction to this episode out of all the ones I’ve seen on YouTube. It was especially gratifying that you did not suspect that this was gonna be the plot twist at all; every time they hinted at it, I would pray that you wouldn’t connect the dots lol. A lot of reactors figure this out before the reveal since they are posting it on YouTube, so they need to edit the videos and thus rewatch the episodes again in a much slower pace, making it easier to pick up the hints. Some of the most memorable hints that they gave us, in my opinion, were: 1- Bismuth tells Steven that she designed rose’s sword to never shatter, only cut through the physical form, but in the trial episode, we learned rose supposedly had used her sword to shatter Pink. 2- The lawyer in the trial episode says the whole thing didn’t make any sense, especially emphasizing “WHERE WAS HER PEARL?” and that it basically could only have been done by one of the diamonds (lol!) 3- Super subtle hint, but the Cookie Cat song lyrics from the first episode of the show hints at rose’s back story. 4- When Pearl is singing “it’s over, isn’t it?” she looks at the rose she’s holding and sings the word “reinvention” There are many more that I can’t really remember right now, but I definitely recommend rewatching the show and paying a lot of attention to Pearl. Her character writing is a masterpiece. Thank you for your impeccable reaction!!!
Blue Eons
2024-08-21 17:01:15 +0000 UTCI think looking back the one I should have definitely picked up on is when Steven was seeing things from Pink Diamond’s perspective in Jungle Moon
mikeyventure
2024-08-21 16:48:31 +0000 UTCAnd here we have the big reveal! 😁 I never really kept up with the fandom theories when I originally watched this, but I'd actually come up with this theory around the time that Eyeball Ruby told her version of events in "Back to the Moon". With the amount of theorizing I know fans do, I doubt I was unique in this regard, but with how strongly Rose rejected shattering to Bismuth, it seemed like a likely alternate explanation. The show then spent a season and a half throwing me off that trail. By the time we got to Lars of the Stars I'd written it off as just one of my theories that hadn't panned out. Jungle Moon brought it back in a BIG way, then we got last episode and this. I think in past episode comments I've mentioned other more minor theories of mine that proved correct, but this was the one I was most excited to have confirmed when it happened. I hope you get a chance to rewatch the series at some point, because - like a lot of other big reveals - there are clues in earlier episodes that hint at this and you pick up on when you revisit them knowing what comes later. 🙂
Pooga
2024-08-21 16:42:37 +0000 UTCSame I was like “Well…… fuck”
Julio Castillo
2024-08-21 16:41:43 +0000 UTCYou should rewatch some episodes. This and like the next few episodes recontextualizes a lot of them. Especially pearl and roses relationship. Also we can finally talk about it. Every time some one new starts this show we have to sit down and shut up for 4 1/2 seasons
cipher
2024-08-21 16:25:54 +0000 UTCI was a strong “Rose is not Pink Diamond” defender then this episode aired and all I could do was scream NOOO in my living room
Alex S F
2024-08-21 16:17:14 +0000 UTCI remember way before the reveal, that the “Rose being Pink Diamond” theory had the fandom split. Like half the fandom speculated she was Pink Diamond, while the other half was proving against it. It was very interesting. What a time.
Janice Marie
2024-08-21 15:10:40 +0000 UTCWhoa!!!! That’s a wild detail
mikeyventure
2024-08-21 15:07:45 +0000 UTCAlso fun fact: in the episode 'say uncle' uncle grandpa told Steven "you should make sure to get this thing polished at least twice a year" when he was referring to Steven's gem... A quartz doesn't need to be polished... But a diamond is recommended to be polished twice a year.. 💀
astrozia
2024-08-21 14:51:58 +0000 UTCI'm sure other people have said it, but we really see Rose's backstory in backwards order. It's a really interesting way to show a character's development, and it's largely without much context. The Fandom has mixed opinions on whether or not Rose was a good person, but I personally think she was good, or at least trying her hardest to be. She wasn't perfect. I don't think she ever meant for Steven to have to deal with her past at all. It's just so unfortunate that they never got to meet each other, I can only imagine how good that would have been for Steven 💔
vivian xavier
2024-08-21 14:43:09 +0000 UTCSAMEEEEE I’ve been literally counting the dayssss, I can’t wait to get home
Blue Eons
2024-08-21 14:31:48 +0000 UTCWelp…. I can’t see the reaction yet cuz I’m at work, but I have no doubt in my mind that this will be GOOD xdd.
Julio Castillo
2024-08-21 14:24:15 +0000 UTCFINALLY!! I'm so excited for this video 😭 (Ps I love your reactions ✨)
astrozia
2024-08-21 14:23:57 +0000 UTC
