It seems like only yesterday we were listening to songs about Cookie Cats and crying over VHS tapes in The Great Donut. No one would have assumed based on the first season of Steven Universe that we would have gone from an innocent form of entertainment to a 14-year-old boy answering for his Mother's war crimes— and yet here we are.
On January 21 the finale of season five is going to kick off with a 44-minute special titled "Battle of Heart and Mind." As someone who's been actively following (and screaming, and crying over) Steven Universe since the beginning, I'm here to walk you through my predictions and what I hope will be explained.
Saving the day
A fascinating adventure for "kids" of all ages.
Earth as you know it has changed in many strange and fascinating ways. Explore this new world through the eyes of Steven, a young boy with unique gifts bestowed upon him by his giant Space Mom.
WAIT! Small disclosure before reading on!!
Obviously there will be a few spoilers in this piece, but everything here is based on information that's already been given to us in the show. So unless you haven't caught up to the latest episode, Escapism, you're fine to continue on.
Feel free to share your own thoughts as well!
How to watch Cartoon Network if you've cut the cord
There's more than enough here to get hyped about
My predictions based on the trailer
- Blue may start on the side against Steven, but she's going to end up fighting with him. That's why we see her fighting against Yellow Diamond.
- White Diamond's powers will finally be revealed. The part where her eyes light up makes me believe she is activating some sort of ability.
- White Diamond's Pearl is more important than we initially thought. How strong is she to be able to stand up to Connie, Steven, and Blue?
- White Pearl's story will be revealed. The scene from Steven's dream in "Together Alone" was surely something important, regardless of how quickly the scene was dismissed and not mentioned again (yet.)
- The taboo over Gem Fusion comes to an end. Now that White Diamond is around it means this conflict is going to be over.
- Only the Diamonds can navigate their own ships. The fact that White and Pink's ships are connecting in a part of this trailer means one of two things: Steven's gem is hijacked somehow or White Diamond is somehow convinced to work with the crew.
Elaborated hype and what I hope gets explained
The whole reason the Crystal Gems even went to Homeworld was that they wanted to find a solution to the Gem corruption. I'm entirely sure the "Battle of Heart and Mind" will be the final battle we've all been looking for since the begining of Steven Universe and here's why.
In Homeworld there is a rule that gems are not allowed to fuse. Of course there are exceptions. Gems like the Rubies and the Amethysts fuse together to create a larger version of themselves for battle purposes, but Gems of different types are definitely not allowed to fuse. The structure of the court determines the status of a gem based on their type, powers, and usefulness. The idea of gems fusing together is the worst form of taboo on this planet because it ruins their strict caste system.
That's why Connie fusing with Steven caused such an uproar at the party in "Together Alone". It only made matters worse when Garnet refused and so did Opal. What took the viewers by surprise was when two other gems from the crowd immediately fused and exclaimed, "I knew it! I knew I couldn't be the only one!"
The next great war of the gems is among us and those chain of events is what triggered the bomb to go off. Most of the Crystal Gems were sent to prison, the other Crystal Gems are stuck on Earth trying to get back to Homeworld, and the entire court has now seen a Diamond fuse with a human .
The kind of rebellion that is going to spark within the colonies during "Battle of Heart and Mind" is a force to be reckoned with. Most of these gems have a fierce loyalty to the Diamonds and now all of the gems who wish they could fuse with their partners now know that there is a Diamond that supports their right to do so.
In the brief glimpses of battle, shown during the trailer, White's Pearl is attempting to reclaim Steven and Connie into custody just before Blue Diamond punches Yellow Diamond through a wall. What made me raise my eyebrows was how, at the start of the trailer, Blue is seen attacking Steven. Now, we all know she has always been more inclined to sympathize with Steven over the other Diamonds. I assume right after she hits him they have a heart to heart that leads her to then help him fight against Yellow and White.
You know what that means, right?
The season finale is going to be one hell of a fight. Two Diamonds and their loyal followers Vs Two Diamonds and their band of misfits.
We may even see the end to a long-reaching story arch
Earlier in the season, three Diamonds had the ability to almost cure gem corruption. That's what caused the Blue, Yellow, and some of the Crystal Gems to travel to Homeworld in order to recruit White Diamond in their efforts. That plan pretty much backfired now that all of the gems who made it to Homeworld are imprisoned for their actions at the party.
While we wait for the other Crystal Gems to make it to Homeworld let's go over a few of the possibilities that may happen during "Battle of Heart and Mind" when it comes to the corruption.
Gems are inorganic being with different physical rulsed and Steven still has the ability to heal them almost as much as he could for a human. Lapis had many cracks in her gem that left gaping holes all over it. Holes that Steven not only healed but regrew entirely where it had shattered and fallen out.
The limitations of how much of a gem is able to be regenerated haven't been covered yet, but it's something that has to be brought up during the one-hour special. The whole purpose of this trip to Homeworld was for this!
Now that there's an active war on Homeworld will they even be able to convince White Diamond to help? Steven is infamous for causing the Grinches of the show's hearts to grow 10 sizes in a day, but I'm not sure that's going to be possible with someone like White. It's important to remember the show's creator, Rebecca Sugar, built this world on the premise that no being in it is truly evil or beyond redemption.
Then again, the trailer did show a small glimpse of White and Pink's ships connecting Power Ranger-style. I'm under the assumption that only diamonds can control their ships, so maybe Steven actually WAS able to convince her to travel back to Earth and help the poor diseased and shattered gems.
I imagine the season finale will give us all closure about the cure and what will happen to all the corrupted gems in bubbles at the basement of the temple.
Speaking of trapped— What about the cluster? Each gem in the cluster is obviously sentient, based on all the different thoughts projected into Steven's subconscious when he slept inside the drill. What would happen if they found a way to shatter the cluster (maybe with four Diamonds working together) and Steven bathed them in a bath of his own saliva? (Gross, but curious.)
Hopefully Rebecca Sugar will finally shed some light on all of these unanswered questions. Everything in all the previous seasons has lead to this very moment— Steven and the Crystal Gems standing up to the opposing Diamonds and looking for the answers to all their problems back on Earth. Gem corruption and the cluster have been the biggest issues ever since the first season.
I'm sure they won't wrap the entire series up (unless there are big plans for a fresh arch in season six), but all of this has been burning in the back of each of our brains since 2013 when the show first aired!
Tell me what you think
I could go on for hours and hours with theories of how the world inside of Steven Universe works. I don't think every question will be answered in this hour finale and I'm absolutely positive we're all going to be left with even more questions no matter how many get answered.
Mark your calendar for January 21. Make sure to have your snacks, drinks, and tissues ready. If this show has taught me anything it's that you're going to need a lot of all of them.
When you're done watching shoot me a tweet and come talk conspiracy with me. I'm always ready to hear it.
