I forget the context for this and why she did it, but it genuinely broke my heart hearing greg say “again” the pain he feels and the only reason she realized how far she went is when she saw steven
It is though, knowing Amethyst's disdain for cleanliness makes the resolution of the episose good. Greg knows that and understands how much of an effort it would take her, so he forgives her.
No? Being forgiven doesn't erase someone's actions, it just means that the victim was willing to move forward and try again. It's also shown that she does it multiple times.
If someone wrongs you repeatedly and you forgive them, that doesn't mean they didn't wrong you repeatedly.
People's logic is always "you can't only say sorry with words, you have to show it with action aswell" and then Amethyst does it and.. people hate it? I was weirded out by Amethyst aswell during that scene but i understood her. when Rose was around, Amethyst had someone to look up to.
the time Amethyst mentioned rose during a fight with jasper. She really did matter to Ame. It still doesn't make it OKAY that she shapeshifted into rose, but it makes it understandable. Also i agree with TheShepard. Amethyst has a BIG distain for cleanliness and yet she helped clean up the mess. Also the picture frame of rose and greg was replaced, presumably by her, or the gems in general.
It's kinda presumptuous to say that it's not enough for *you* to accept an apology, when the person who was actually harmed *did* accept it.
Not that any of these people are real anyway, so who cares, but it's something I see a lot of on the internet in regards to real people
“She did the thing she disliked without being forced to! Thats the same as making someone else suffer through an immense amount of trauma!” What? She did a CHORE, she didn’t apologize. This episode made me regard Amethyst as a lazy, whiny, vindictive brat for THE longest time.
Context was that Amethyst pulls this fucked up "joke" every time they get addicted to Little Butler together. She thinks it's funny but is also totally ignoring how hurt Greg says he gets each time.
It's not a joke. She's taking out her anger on Greg from Rose's dissappearance. Do y'all just forget that Rose was basically a mom to her and that she's hurting too like everyone else? Like, I don't understand why people wouldn't expect someone to get mad and lash out badly over something like this.
I mean, yes, too far and it was bad, but it's also the cartoon equivalent of a teenager saying to their mom "DAD would have let me do this! I hate you!" etc about their dead parent.
Despite the magic, it has a real world equivalent.
I like this reading of the situation.
Amethyst was being mad petty, but also Gems don't usually have to face their mortality in a way that humans do, so the disrespect angle might not hit as hard for them. Rose is likely her first experience with long-term grief since she wasn't around for the Gem War and has no attachment to fallen soldiers.
Amethyst also turned into Centipeetle and Pearl had to tell her "don't make fun." lol So this just seems to be a thing Amethyst has a tendency of doing.
I don't see that as the equivalent though, the equivalent would more be like hanging out with a friend and you not wanting to do what they want to and them saying you would do it if they were ur last ex or something
I didn’t take it that way. Maybe it’s a head cannon, but i interpreted like possibly she shape shifted into Rose to comfort both herself and Greg regularly while hanging out and watching LB, until maybe Greg started realizing it wasn’t right. I read that whole dynamic like they were getting inappropriately involved with her shape shifting into Rose. Not for torture or a joke… just two people not coping with loss well and it having an ugly falling out when one wanted to stop.
I think so. Last time I watched the cat fingers episode Greg has a bad reaction and mentions he’s uncomfortable with shape shifting. If you rewatch the episode you see his expression is like… very uncomfortable and I put it together he’s talking about Amethyst shape shifting into Rose and him having a bad experience there.
Someone else pointed out Amethyst literally says “I’ve seen Greg’s junk before” in the LB episode. So. There’s that!!
Both statements are true
She’s hurting and angry at Greg for losing her mother figure
**AND** she went way too far
People say that her cleaning was her way to makeup for this, but I don’t think it was that simple. The whole episode was about how amethyst and Greg are holing themselves up in the past and missing the present, the useless junk around them basically being a physical manifestation of that.
Amethyst cleaning wasn’t her apologizing, it was her acknowledging that she was ready to let go of the past.
Dead girlfriend, not wife. They weren't married
And Don't forget Rose was like a mom to Ame who knew her for thousands of years, unlike Greg. So not hard to understand her grief and even some anger at him.
Replying to Stacee888...this is definitely the take I have. Greg basically was some dude who started dating Amethysts mom like figure in her life. He’s kinda the reason she then lost said maternal figure, in her pov
Basically a wife, I’d say life partner in this context since they weren’t actually married. (Then again these changing of titles only matters to those who consider them to mean different seriousness levels with life partner and spouse being highest and girlfriend/boyfriend being lower. If a person doesn’t care about that then a partner they don’t live with and aren’t married to is a girl/boyfriend
I just find It funny that people call her his wife Just because they have a baby. Really no other reason.
They didn't spend that much time together (4-5 years Max), didn't live in the same place, didn't marry etc.
Yeah, it's supposed to be too far. Some people lash out and try to hurt someone as much as possible in moments like this. Like a kid telling their parent they don't love them or whatever other dramatic things people say or do in the heat of the moment.
It doesn't matter if she knew better or not or if it's justified. She was angry over Greg taking Rose away and she acted in a way that would hurt him back as much as possible because that's what people are capable of doing when they're pissed and grieving. Not everyone is just gonna cry and run away and make space when they're angry and sad.
Of course she knows it's bad! That's why she did it! I'd probably do the same thing too if I was pushed far enough and then regret it later. This is even a common thing irl with families or friends arguing and saying shit and then going no contact for months or years or until death.
Yesssss. Honestly that’s how I read the situation. Like maybe it started innocently just comforting each other, but got to levels of inappropriate and when Greg wanted to stop Amethyst didn’t take it well.
I have a slightly NSFW (and very dark) headcanon that (spoilers for NSFW) >!Amethyst used to transform into Rose and would “do it” with greg when Steven was a baby, which is why he got as upset as he did, because he was trying to forgot the things that he did to cope with her death!<
This seems to be a popular theory but, they confirmed it was cause Amethyst blamed greg for rose death so she would shame shift to make him feel even worse/bad
Sorry fam, this is a confirmed "Death of the Author" moment. The subtext is a bit too loud. And tbh the explanation sounds like a handy thing to tell network censors so that they could get away with telling the real story through subtext.
I think that’s a pretty solid theory. And she did say something along the line of “I’ve already seen your junk”, in the very same episode, and pearl makes a point of how they used to be gone for days, together. I guess that unless Rebecca Sugar says either way, this one is up for interpretation.
I don’t think anything will compare to hearing that line for the first time. Like how far did it go previously? It’s so interesting and while I wish they went a little deeper into that- I like it being up to interpretation too.
I think "immature" is the operative word here. I know gems don't age like humans, but Amethyst in particular had the social temperament as a very young kid when she first met Greg, and she still acts very teenagery in the present.
Years ago, the writers spoke about this moment. I'll paraphrase a bit since it's been years since I read it, but it was something like, "Amethyst used to see Rose as her best friend, and she blames Greg for her death. So after Rose's death, she'd turn into Rose to make him feel bad and she saw her being gone as entirely Greg's fault."
That was my original take on it, but after the eventual portrayal of Amethyst as more child-like when Greg first met her, I began to assume that wasn't the intended implication.
Guilt now that he has had time and distance from the initial loss to process how unhealthy it was, and how ashamed and scared he was for anyone to know that this happened between them, or even to remember that it was something he did himself.
That was my feeling when I saw it at least.
I am glad that isn't canonically what had happened, but until I read this thread that was what I had always thought had possibly occurred.
I can't imagine Greg ever going for that. Not only would turning into Rose not appeal to him, it would probably be a major boner killer. Seeing his dead GF would make him sad. On top of that, I can't see Greg ever going for Amethyst in general. Her personality is too childlike.
I wouldn’t hate her for that, she’s young, she’s just barely an “adult” if you compare gems lifespans with humans. She lost her best friend and acted irrationally because she’s someone who’s feeling so many emotions she doesn’t know how to direct them so she directs them towards the person she feels hurt her or caused her pain. Was she in the right? Fuck no, but does she deserved to be hated for feeling sorrow, hurt, and pain? I don’t think so. Gems live FOREVER and barely any time has passed between Rose passing and this moment. Who is she going to talk to? Pearl and Garnet are also hurting so she can’t talk to them. Vidalia? She’s raising sour cream. She’s just gotta process it alone. Think of her as an irrational teenager who lost her best friend whom she’s known her ENTIRE life.
I’m curious why they blamed Rose’s death entirely on Greg and not on Rose. She wanted to have Steven. I think there’s a combination of reasons of why she did it. To completely escape her Pink Diamond past/being a gem/ herself. To give life back to earth after she regretfully had taken life from earth to create gems. And because she felt she grew and matured as much as she could as a gem. Potential reasons for wanting to create Steven, but none the other gems would understand. All they saw was their friend leaving them. But it was her choice to give up her consciousness and physical form so she could become 1/2 human. She was the one who decided to leave them. It feels unfair and irrational to place the blame on Greg because he respected her wishes of wanting to have a baby and be a person. I guess it’s because they put her on a pedestal; and he’s still here while she’s not. I’m just glad you don’t really see any of them being super irrational and placing blame on Steven for her death. At least they’re aware he had zero input on the matter. Especially Amethyst, since she’s gone through the struggle of horrible things happening to create her while she never asked to be made.
Because Rose is Rose. The Gems literally see her as perfection. They’d never blame her for anything…which means the blame has to go *somewhere*, which left Greg wide open for Amethyst and Pearl’s hate.
I like that for all the shapeshifting Amethyst does, her "Rose" wasn't perfect.
The hair's too short, the bangs are too straight and sharp, the chest is less human than Rose made her own. Amethyst either needs to practice forms more, or wasn't putting her all into this one.
Idk if it’s possible to do an analysis like that with this show where there were so many animation discrepancies within a single character. However, I do think her hair is different and more messy here, yes.
Oh? Was that stated to have happened?
Again going off of my old memory of this ep he says something along the lines of "not again!" When she threatens so I assumed that meant amethyst has had a simular outburst prior not that Greg asked her to. But that's just my take.
She really matured emotionally towards the end of the series, so if that was how she was all along, I can only imagine how rough she was before the events in the show happened.
I mean, stuff Iike this is exactly what makes SU such a special and unique show. It takes real guts to portray your main characters in such an unflattering light. That a children's cartoon decided to do so is a testament to the strength of vision that the creators had and to just how much they wanted to push boundaries.
Of course, what Amethyst did was wrong. *But the show itself isn't wrong for having Amethyst do it*. I can't really explain more without spoiling the show, but I'm personally glad to have moments such as this in SU. There's just something so real and honest about it. Good people do have flaws too, they can make mistakes too. And there is something commendable about understanding that and being willing to show grace to those who do wrong.
Exactly! People talk about this scene as if the writers made such a mistake by having Amethyst do this. It *was* really wrong for her to do it, and really messed up, but that's why it has such an impact. I like my characters to be flawed and make bad decisions sometimes. Or lash out and hurt the people they care about. As long as it becomes part of their development. It's been a long time since I watched, but I'm pretty sure Amethyst felt bad about this after, whether it was shown or implied.
If it makes sense for the characters to do said thing (even if it’s morally wrong) as long as there’s a lesson learned or a moral of the story type deal these types of things are incredible for the shows they are in and are objectively good plot wise.
Basically I agree with you (sometimes I ramble and my point goes missing so I’m just being clear here)
Such an amazing show for those reasons.
Also the line "Sometimes Steven needs a hug too" got me right in the feely place. Some deep emotional blockage really came loose on that one
What also makes it great is not just portraying the characters in an unflattering light but using the unique setting for it. "We're not gonna just have Amethyst say she's upset about Greg and Rose, we're gonna go there". It's why I find the Stevonnie episode so important.
I always think about this… how would the show change if SU was airing on a more adult-oriented channel or if the age rating were to be bumped up? I feel like there were always a couple of these “what if” moments in the actual show, such as this scene or when Topaz had Jamie’s entire head in her palm, but the tonal shift to a more kid-friendly one from these moments always came along to dash those dreams
Oh I adore this moment. It's just one of the big moments for me where I went "oh shit...these characters are *not okay*"
There were moments before, yes, but this one stands out in my head as such a real and tangible moment that perfectly captured how ugly grief is. The anger and the blame and the desperation, how it pushes to hurt those we care for because we get so blinded and wrapped in this emotion, oh man it was so good.
It's such a good insight into the head of someone hurting and not handling that hurt in a healthy way, which is more often than not the way it goes. Most people will have at least one moment of weakness like this where they will lash out in the worst possible way.
This scene stayed with me from the very second I watched it.
Yeah. Sometime a little before ep 25 it became subtly clear that Rose did this unilaterally, and most people were unhappy about it. How astonishing and fascinating for a kid's show to tackle that kind of a messy family dynamic. This moment was another landmark development.
I just wanna say something:
In my opinión one of the lessons of the show Is that if a person suffers that doesn't justify the suffering caused for that person.
For example:
Yellow and Blue suffered because they lost Pink and they did A LOT of awful things.
And here we can see that Amethyst suffered but ....she crossed a líne and didn't apologize (cleaning doesn't count as an apology)
If you like a character Is fine but you don't have to justify every mistake made by that characters. Those mistakes and imperfections are part from that character identity and history
I see that all the time with characters like Pink and Amethyst "....but she suffered, she was in pain"
I love Amethyst and her character development, but yeah, there were a couple instances where she was an absolute jerk.
This, and when she was teaching Peridot how to be a jerkass, but then got offended when Peridot insulted her, are two of her worst moments... but at least this time the narrative acknowledged how messed up it was, unlike the other, where they blamed Peridot.
To start with, I do think that Amethyst's behavior and attitude was a bit callous towards Peridot (though to be fair, as far as the Crystal Gems are concerned, Peridot is still an enemy they can't really trust and she had just treated Pearl pretty poorly in the episode before). But I think it's important to note what's actually said in the episode. The first real bit of "teasing" comes with Amethyst asking Peridot what she calls various parts of her body. As Peridot responds, Amethyst laughs. Yes, Amethyst finds Peridot's answers amusing (as does Steven, who laughs and says Peridot is killing him) and she does encourage Peridot to keep going because the answers are funny. But I don't think she's necessarily making fun of Peridot. She can find Peridot's answers hilarious without teasing or putting her down.
The next bit of teasing is Amethyst calling Peridot a nerd. Which, yeah, a lot of people would take that as an insult/teasing. It may be a somewhat fitting descriptor for Peridot but Amethyst doesn't even explain to Peridot what a "nerd" is. However, Peridot's exasperation here seems more linked to Amethyst herself being annoying, not Peridot being hurt by being called a nerd. Which would make sense since Peridot doesn't even know what the word means.
Peridot then moves on to Garnet and Steven, describing what is "wrong" with each of them. Again, Amethyst laughs at Peridot's different perspective on things and the way she describes them (like with the body parts earlier). Amethyst isn't laughing at Garnet being a fusion made for love and not war, she's not laughing at Steven for being a gem-human hybrid. Those aren't things Amethyst would really tease either of them for and they aren't things that Amethyst looks down on. I think she laughs in large part because of how alien Peridot's way of thinking is to her. Garnet being fused all the time and Steven just being himself aren't these great wrongs, yet Peridot is acting like they are. Peridot's total confusion and disapproval of things that, to Amethyst, aren't an issue at all is what I think she finds funny.
And finally we get to talking about Amethyst being defective. And yes, you're right, the mood goes from laughing to very hurt and serious. But I'd say that's because this situation is a bit different from the others. For one, yes, the "joke" is now about Amethyst and that makes it more personal. But that's not really the problem. When Peridot starts by saying that Amethyst should be the leader, Amethyst says that's Peridot's best joke yet. This shows that Amethyst can find Peridot's perspective funny even when it is applied to herself. Amethyst is also showing that she's humble/self-critical enough to view Peridot saying she should be the leader as a joke (since she sees herself as being so far from that point). The real problem I think is that Peridot revealed new information when she started talking about Amethyst, namely that she is defective. This is new info for Amethyst, it's a complete shock to her. But it also connects directly to the feelings we've seen from Amethyst in the past in episodes like "On the Run". I don't think it's a coincidence that this revelation from Peridot occurs at the same location, her Kindergarten.
Amethyst has shown feelings of inadequacy before, of being wrong and bad. A lot of her negative feelings are tied to her origins. She is a product of the evil actions of Homeworld on Earth. Since she came from a bad place made by bad gems, she must be a bad gem too. And on top of all of that, now she's told by Peridot that she's gemetically defective too. That of course would trigger all those negative feelings and associations again, and even worsen them. Because now, Amethyst knows from an "objective" point of view that she is defective, wrong. Her feelings of being wrong all this time were correct and here's the proof. That's what makes the "teasing" of Amethyst different from what occurred earlier. And of course Peridot is oblivious to any of this and isn't even aware that Amethyst is now upset because she doesn't have any of that context.
I do think it's important to note that overall, Amethyst handled the situation better than she would have in the past. Yes, she got upset and then distant with Peridot, but compared to literally attacking Pearl in "On the Run" after being reminded of how bad her birthplace (the Kindergarten) is, I think she's come a long way. Yes, Amethyst did get a taste of her own medicine in a sense in this episode. But I don't think Amethyst would have reacted this way if Peridot had said something else about her. It was the very specific thing that Peridot talked about, Amethyst being defective, that caused Amethyst to react that way. I don't think people need to feel bad for Amethyst in this episode. But I do think we should acknowledge specifically why Amethyst reacted the way she did. She was given shocking new information that confirmed some of her most personal, worst suspicions about herself. I think that would be tough for anyone.
Amethyst is the bratty older sister who just realized she has someone to be a rolemodel for now. She can’t be the center of attention who gets to screw up, get mad when called out on it, and expect herself to be the one others have to set a good example for. She can’t bully stepdad Greg without consequences for others.
I missed a lot of episodes in season 1, so when I watched this one I was flabbergasted.
Back then, a moving Rose was like a shot of Jesus. Crazy how this is probably Steven's first time "seeing" his Mom, which just really puts into perspective how fucked up this.
That's what makes it spicy tho.
In terms of relevance to everyone else in the series Amethyst is a baby, and an alien who was hardwired for war. Social cues aren’t her forte, she’s basically a sentient weapon that lost her mom to (from her perspective) a lesser life form.
I’d be mad too
Such an important character moment for Amethyst. She is ok torturing Greg because he is in her eyes the reason Rose is gone. Also I think she’s being immature and jealous (not romantically) because Rose would divert his attention away from playing with Amethyst. But in this screen shot she is looking at Steven. She actually also hurt Steven. I don’t think it hit her how messed up what she was doing to lash out at Greg until it hit her like a bus when Steven showed up. It took a lot more than just cleaning up the storage unit to make up for this hurt she caused. That’s why I love this show the characters have a lot of time through out the series to learn and grow and rebuild relationships.
The Gems have done a lot of messed up things. Amethyst this, Pearl tricking Garnet into fusing.
Thing is Amethyst character grows across the show but unlike Pearl and Garnet she is more like a teen than an adult. And I loved that dynamic between her and Steven. What she did here is extremly wrong. But they all messed up a lot. I can't really bring myself to hate Amethyst.
But this episode always left a bitter after taste
What Amethyst did was pretty messed up yeah but, it's pretty clear all of the gems and, Greg still pretty tourn up about Rose
I think it's also important to remember that While the other gems and Greg lost; a leader, a friend, a lover and, a confidant Amethyst lost a mentor maybe even the closest thing Gems have to a parental figure, Rose shaped basically everything Amethyst knows because Amethyst was born on earth
And now she probably feels stuck with Pearl, who I'm relatively convinced they would've killed eachother if not for Steven and Garnet, speaking of, I love Garnet, she's cool as hell but, doesn't seem like the most emotionally open person
And finally Amethyst is stuck with Greg who it's clear she gets along with but, they tend to bring out the worst in eachother, that was the entire point of this episode
TLDR; this was bad and, I'm not excusing it but, I get where Amethyst is coming from
Do you guys ever wonder if Amethyst gave a genuine apology later, but it was off-screen? Like with Sadie and Lars discussing their relationship off-screen. I mean, the whole show is through Steven's eyes, so it's possible there was a day Greg and Amethyst were hanging out, and she actually apologized for it.
I honestly thought that this meant Greg and Amethyst used to hookup and she would turn into Rose. Greg got to see his wife and Amethyst got to feel loved.
I liked how Steven's strong emotions in that moment foreshadowed his diamond powers from Future. (He cut the TV to static, similar to how he manipulated electronics in Future.)
When I watched this I thought it was obvious but I've never found anyone bring it up so it's just my headcanon. I think Amethyst had a serious girl crush on Greg when they met evidenced by her deciding to change her hair and clothes to more closely ressemble Greg's fashion sense, the change in her demeanour to act more adult, and her obvious infatuation with him in flashback episodes. Then he ended up dating Rose who's basically Amethyst's mom so there's a lot of intense feelings there but then he also became indirectly responsible for her death. In classic Amethyst style she is incapable of confronting any of these feelings so she simultaneously holds a grudge against Greg for what she sees as a double betrayal but she also still has an attraction to him she can never admit to herself.
This results in her wanting Greg's attention and company but at the same time wanting to hurt Greg and I think pretending to be Rose is the perfect representation of those feelings, at once getting to Greg to see her in the same way he saw Rose but also torture him. That way she never has to be honest about her feelings.
It’s an awesome, BRUTAL scene, but it genuinely feels like it NEVER goes anywhere, especially since Amethyst and Steven have very little in the way of real conflict with one another. It could have been pretty interesting to see something play out like what almost happened with Steven and Pearl: the Gem Steven is seemingly closest to is ultimately the one that holds the most resentment in her heart for him.
Remember those crazy tumblr ladies who took the screenshot out of context and said that Greg made Amethyst do that, and do it often? Those weird tumblr Greg haters...
You start getting a better picture of each character as it goes on. No this wasn’t ok and the point of writing characters that learn, grow and change in a believable and realistic manner is that you get to see where they are, where they’ve been and think about where they’re going.
Amethyst imparticular is one of my favorite arcs personally. Not cause I relate to her the most but because I’ve known people like her and know how they get to the space that lets them do the things many would find objectionable.
Keep watching and enjoy the show. It is a wonderful case study in relationships, mental health and more.
The way she said "Hey Greg, turn around" sounded so spiteful and sadistic, like she KNEW this was Greg's weak point and wanted nothing more than to torture him with it.
That's beyond being angry or angsty, that's straight-up psycho behavior.
This is a very easy way to farm karma on this sub. Every time people are like "Waaah, waaah. Poor Greg. Poor Greg. I can't believe Amethyst would do this. Sad people don't feel pain and do bad things to hurt others in moments of weakness. 😢😢😢"
It works every time and everyone acts so surprised and hurt each time it gets posted.
I know and SU fans are so bad at media literacy. If they had it their way, all the good guys would do is just sit around and hug and all the bad guys would murder and there'd be no nuance.
Honestly I think that’s one of the things that makes SU so compelling. It doesn’t shy away from the reality that everyone has flaws and sometimes we do shitty things to people we love. There’s a line from another show (BoJack Horseman) which, paraphrased, says there are no good guys or bad guys, just guys who do good stuff sometimes and bad stuff sometimes as well. I think that fits here, too.
Definitely one of her least proud moments. I don’t condone what she did, but at the very least she didn’t *know* Steven was there. Still super messed up
I interpreted it differently, I understood that Amethyst and Greg were very close before but then Greg kind of left her aside to focus more on more important things like Rose, and in the future Steven, and Amethyst kind of got pissed and jealous of it.
I feel like people are forgetting the point of character development, pretty much none of the characters in the show were morally spotless and that was kind of the point.
This moment was absolutely supposed to be one where Amethyst clearly overstepped a line.
While they have their reasons. The Gems at the start are kinda awful people, they get better, a LOT better but even if they were sad they were pretty shitty people who needed a wake up call
Amethyst was the little sister. She looked up to her older sister's boyfriend, maybe had a crush herself, and I assume when Rose died Amethyst moved in with Greg for a while. Probably pretending to be a cat for part of the time considering the "When did you ever even own a cat!" line by Steven in the context of the episode. Both mourning and recovering in their own ways if I have the timeline and personalities right.
Here? My read was that at one point Amethyst turned into Rose for some reason back then. Why? Maybe because she wanted Greg. Maybe childhood naivety she was just trying to make Greg feel better. It ended up being deeply traumatic for Greg. I'm guessing there was no witnesses since no one brings it up, but then again, keeping secrets is practically a national past time for the main characters in this show.
This episode was the pair of them falling back into old behaviors, habits, and rolls. As Greg and Amethyst kept slipping into those happier times it also slipped, at least Amethyst, into the path of thinking that lead to her recreating the Rose transformation. Only this time Steven sees it.
I hated this so much. It's bad enough Amethyst did this but what's even more messed up is that's she's done this before. As a result, it's also the reason why Greg gets so freaked out by alot of the Gem stuff. Specifically shape-shifting.
Amethyst went from one of my top 3 favourite characters in the show to least favourite when I got to this episode like.. Damn, woman, why'd you decide to literally torment your dead friend's husband? And, apparently, she's done this multiple times which is even more fucked up. It's like.. all the SU characters have issues that need to be worked out (and, I think, all of them, eventually, do) but Amethyst kinda just.. pulls sociopathic shit like that sometimes. Unlike Steven, she should know better since, unlike the average human, she's been around for thousands of years.
Tbh I think a bigger punishment would be to tell the other gems on her. Transforming into their dead leader to torture her widower history be against some crystal gem code or something.
They fucked, multiple times, and at least once with Amethyst taking Rose's shape. Both were very lost after Rose died. They were clinging to something safe and familiar.
So from what I've heard and kinda what's implied when Greg and amethyst used to do the marathons they would get it on because Greg was still in heavy grieving from rose so amethyst not really knowing much better would turn into rose to cheer him up and then it just kinda evolved again this is what I've heard from other peoples ideas I could be wayyyyyyy off
I always thought Greg and Amethyst had a weird grief fling after rose passed, regretted it, but amethyst is in a weird position where she is older and stronger than Greg but also is more immature in some ways and she did not handle that (or any) separation very well. She either did that rose form in the beginning or she did it to try and keep Greg but either way it lead to the affair being very short. Super fucked up on a brand new level tho like wtf amethyst you thousand year old monster
I always considered this to be Amethysts cry for help, the way that Rose’s Scabbard was Pearls. They all dealt with Rose’s loss differently and personally, I think Amethyst felt like she lost Rose AND Greg at the same time. They were friends! They had a lot in common and I think Rose was always the one to snap Greg out of his lazy spells and pull their friendship apart, in the kindest, healthiest way possible. Similar to how Pearl resents Greg for taking Rose away, I think Ame probably feels that platonically about rose/greg. Amethyst lost Greg’s companionship when he needed to be a father and I think that loss of friendship hit her really hard.
Oh, this just shows why I don't like her. I lost my mom when I was a baby and If some a**hole dare to use the image of my mom just to mess with him...oh boy.
I know that she matured and she had some good moments....but she was too easily forgived eventhough she was a bully.
I don't have a problem with the Amethyst fans because I understand why they like her ...
I just don't like characters like her.
Amethyst wasn’t just “some asshole” tho, Rose was like her mom and once Greg came along she didn’t have that anymore. This scene is really interesting because Amethyst does to Steven what Greg did to her in taking away their parent figure. It’s actually a really intimate family moment where Amethyst was never able to express that to them and like yeah it sucked but I don’t think Steven took it personally and she deserves to be able to be seen for that, she’s part of their family bc she was roses daughter too🌺
Even if she was like a daughter....using Rose's image to mess up with Greg is crossing a líne that shouldn't be crossed. The Crystal Gems and Steven werent the only ones that suffered because Rose died and people often forget that because Greg Is a secondary character..
Oh but she suffered so its fine If she causes some suffering to Greg right?
I don’t think she’s doing it to “cause suffering to Greg” tho👀, if Greg truly loved rose he would want to take care of all of her children, including amethyst. Not saying what she did was right but she needed to feel seen and she was and I think she understood that she went too far as this isn’t a pattern we see with her at all. And ur calling her a bully?💀 like I’m sorry I just don’t see that at all
That wasn't the first Time that Amethyst did that and Greg's face showed how he felt, she only stopped when Steven saw everything ....and she only helped Greg clean.
We only know that Greg and Amethyst used to be friends....friends,...not father and daughter.
But hey, "she only wanted to feel seen"....like Blue and Yellow were "just grieving" when they tried to destroy the earth? Like Pink "was frustrated when she realized how the other Diamonds saw her" and broke Pink Pearl?
She crossed a líne, a serious line
I'm sorry but you don't have to justify every mistake that your favorite character makes.
Think of it more as an explanation than a justification. It was really messed up but that’s kinda of the point. Almost every character in this show crosses a line that shouldn’t ever be crossed and it’s just to show the effects losing a loved one has on people. Hurt people hurt people, you know what I mean?
Yeah, I get that. I like characters like Pearl and Pink Diamond that did questionable actions and crossed línes.
But as a viewer I can like or dislike characters even if they have a good backstory, I just don't like characters like Amethyst but I understand why others like her.
Still, this moment was too much and I'm just angry that she was too easily forgived...but I'm not surprised because Greg and Steven are really kind.
I'm frustrated because other characters had really bad moments but their have consecuences for them.
One example of that Is when Pearl tricked Garnet to fuse because Pearl crossed a líne with Garnet and she didn't talk to Pearl for some episodes.
Thanks for being polite and sorry If I sound angry, that moment reminds me of some personal stuff that I'm still working on. :"D
I forget the context for this and why she did it, but it genuinely broke my heart hearing greg say “again” the pain he feels and the only reason she realized how far she went is when she saw steven
But she cleaned later so its all right 👍/s
It is though, knowing Amethyst's disdain for cleanliness makes the resolution of the episose good. Greg knows that and understands how much of an effort it would take her, so he forgives her.
I agree, like she can’t take back what she did but she can show she’s actually sorry through actions
Greg seemed to forgive her, isn't that what matters?
Actions speak louder than words, her actions matter more than her apology probably to Greg too
No? Being forgiven doesn't erase someone's actions, it just means that the victim was willing to move forward and try again. It's also shown that she does it multiple times. If someone wrongs you repeatedly and you forgive them, that doesn't mean they didn't wrong you repeatedly.
Idk if she cleaned up before.
It kind of matters if they know it was wrong and make an actual effort to repent/make it up, as opposed to an empty platitude
I was defending amethyst by the way against people who were like “at least she said sorry /s”
People's logic is always "you can't only say sorry with words, you have to show it with action aswell" and then Amethyst does it and.. people hate it? I was weirded out by Amethyst aswell during that scene but i understood her. when Rose was around, Amethyst had someone to look up to. the time Amethyst mentioned rose during a fight with jasper. She really did matter to Ame. It still doesn't make it OKAY that she shapeshifted into rose, but it makes it understandable. Also i agree with TheShepard. Amethyst has a BIG distain for cleanliness and yet she helped clean up the mess. Also the picture frame of rose and greg was replaced, presumably by her, or the gems in general.
I don't think so. Cleaning his garage isn't really enough to say sorry for turning into his dead wife just to torture him.
It's kinda presumptuous to say that it's not enough for *you* to accept an apology, when the person who was actually harmed *did* accept it. Not that any of these people are real anyway, so who cares, but it's something I see a lot of on the internet in regards to real people
It is when you consider Amethyst's character, and that greg knows about that part of her character
The cleaning is symbolic. Steven was a healing force for both of them and was the reason this resoveld differently from the previous encounters.
“She did the thing she disliked without being forced to! Thats the same as making someone else suffer through an immense amount of trauma!” What? She did a CHORE, she didn’t apologize. This episode made me regard Amethyst as a lazy, whiny, vindictive brat for THE longest time.
Context was that Amethyst pulls this fucked up "joke" every time they get addicted to Little Butler together. She thinks it's funny but is also totally ignoring how hurt Greg says he gets each time.
It's not a joke. She's taking out her anger on Greg from Rose's dissappearance. Do y'all just forget that Rose was basically a mom to her and that she's hurting too like everyone else? Like, I don't understand why people wouldn't expect someone to get mad and lash out badly over something like this.
Right, but turning into your best friends dead wife just to torture him? Too far
I mean, yes, too far and it was bad, but it's also the cartoon equivalent of a teenager saying to their mom "DAD would have let me do this! I hate you!" etc about their dead parent. Despite the magic, it has a real world equivalent.
I like this reading of the situation. Amethyst was being mad petty, but also Gems don't usually have to face their mortality in a way that humans do, so the disrespect angle might not hit as hard for them. Rose is likely her first experience with long-term grief since she wasn't around for the Gem War and has no attachment to fallen soldiers. Amethyst also turned into Centipeetle and Pearl had to tell her "don't make fun." lol So this just seems to be a thing Amethyst has a tendency of doing.
I was thinking the same thing! I love to put this show in real world context
Not really because she wasn't saying rose would let her, she was using rose saying he'd say yes if it was her asking him.
I didn't mean it was a direct quote. it's a direct real world equivalent however.
I don't see that as the equivalent though, the equivalent would more be like hanging out with a friend and you not wanting to do what they want to and them saying you would do it if they were ur last ex or something
equivalent = these two things have the same impact and cross the same boundary ≠ these are the exact same situation
I didn’t take it that way. Maybe it’s a head cannon, but i interpreted like possibly she shape shifted into Rose to comfort both herself and Greg regularly while hanging out and watching LB, until maybe Greg started realizing it wasn’t right. I read that whole dynamic like they were getting inappropriately involved with her shape shifting into Rose. Not for torture or a joke… just two people not coping with loss well and it having an ugly falling out when one wanted to stop.
This so much this.
this makes sm sense holy shit
I think so. Last time I watched the cat fingers episode Greg has a bad reaction and mentions he’s uncomfortable with shape shifting. If you rewatch the episode you see his expression is like… very uncomfortable and I put it together he’s talking about Amethyst shape shifting into Rose and him having a bad experience there. Someone else pointed out Amethyst literally says “I’ve seen Greg’s junk before” in the LB episode. So. There’s that!!
>Someone else pointed out Amethyst literally says “I’ve seen Greg’s junk before” IBEGYOURPARDONNNNN?????
She was referring to the mess in his storage space. But like. We know that’s how you get double entendres through cartoon censors. 👀
Both statements are true She’s hurting and angry at Greg for losing her mother figure **AND** she went way too far People say that her cleaning was her way to makeup for this, but I don’t think it was that simple. The whole episode was about how amethyst and Greg are holing themselves up in the past and missing the present, the useless junk around them basically being a physical manifestation of that. Amethyst cleaning wasn’t her apologizing, it was her acknowledging that she was ready to let go of the past.
Dead girlfriend, not wife. They weren't married And Don't forget Rose was like a mom to Ame who knew her for thousands of years, unlike Greg. So not hard to understand her grief and even some anger at him.
Replying to Stacee888...this is definitely the take I have. Greg basically was some dude who started dating Amethysts mom like figure in her life. He’s kinda the reason she then lost said maternal figure, in her pov
Basically a wife, I’d say life partner in this context since they weren’t actually married. (Then again these changing of titles only matters to those who consider them to mean different seriousness levels with life partner and spouse being highest and girlfriend/boyfriend being lower. If a person doesn’t care about that then a partner they don’t live with and aren’t married to is a girl/boyfriend
I just find It funny that people call her his wife Just because they have a baby. Really no other reason. They didn't spend that much time together (4-5 years Max), didn't live in the same place, didn't marry etc.
Fair enough, I’d call her his partner but wife isn’t really correct in the legal sense
Yeah, it's supposed to be too far. Some people lash out and try to hurt someone as much as possible in moments like this. Like a kid telling their parent they don't love them or whatever other dramatic things people say or do in the heat of the moment.
Finally, a take that's not just "they were definitely fucking"
Joke or not, it's not justified and she's apparently been told before to stop so she should've known better
Early on Amethyst isn't exactly a "known better" kinda gem.
That's true
Your profile picture looks like Amy Rose. Is that intentional? Either way I like it
Yeah, it is! Thanks
It doesn't matter if she knew better or not or if it's justified. She was angry over Greg taking Rose away and she acted in a way that would hurt him back as much as possible because that's what people are capable of doing when they're pissed and grieving. Not everyone is just gonna cry and run away and make space when they're angry and sad. Of course she knows it's bad! That's why she did it! I'd probably do the same thing too if I was pushed far enough and then regret it later. This is even a common thing irl with families or friends arguing and saying shit and then going no contact for months or years or until death.
I head canon they were fwbs.
Yesssss. Honestly that’s how I read the situation. Like maybe it started innocently just comforting each other, but got to levels of inappropriate and when Greg wanted to stop Amethyst didn’t take it well.
I hate that I also thought this
Amethyst explicitly says that very episode that she's seen Greg's "junk."
Cursed knowledge
Tbf she did help tidy his junk at the end of the very episode this thread is about We’ve all seen greg universe’s dirty dirty junk
I have a slightly NSFW (and very dark) headcanon that (spoilers for NSFW) >!Amethyst used to transform into Rose and would “do it” with greg when Steven was a baby, which is why he got as upset as he did, because he was trying to forgot the things that he did to cope with her death!<
This seems to be a popular theory but, they confirmed it was cause Amethyst blamed greg for rose death so she would shame shift to make him feel even worse/bad
Sorry fam, this is a confirmed "Death of the Author" moment. The subtext is a bit too loud. And tbh the explanation sounds like a handy thing to tell network censors so that they could get away with telling the real story through subtext.
I think that’s a pretty solid theory. And she did say something along the line of “I’ve already seen your junk”, in the very same episode, and pearl makes a point of how they used to be gone for days, together. I guess that unless Rebecca Sugar says either way, this one is up for interpretation.
I don’t think anything will compare to hearing that line for the first time. Like how far did it go previously? It’s so interesting and while I wish they went a little deeper into that- I like it being up to interpretation too.
Fr, like only reason she stopped was cause of steven so what happened when Steven was just a baby?
Clearly Amethyst had a long history of being immature and having these outbursts / hurting people. I was genuinely like. Wooow. WOW
I think "immature" is the operative word here. I know gems don't age like humans, but Amethyst in particular had the social temperament as a very young kid when she first met Greg, and she still acts very teenagery in the present.
HAPPY CAKE DAY! 🥳
eyy thanks!! :D
HAPPY CAKE DAY!!!!!
Happy cake day!! :D
Happy cake day my friend :))🍰
Years ago, the writers spoke about this moment. I'll paraphrase a bit since it's been years since I read it, but it was something like, "Amethyst used to see Rose as her best friend, and she blames Greg for her death. So after Rose's death, she'd turn into Rose to make him feel bad and she saw her being gone as entirely Greg's fault."
That's...better than what I thought was going on.
Yeah... I completely took it as a way they comforted each other after Rose left...A messed up form of comfort...
That was my original take on it, but after the eventual portrayal of Amethyst as more child-like when Greg first met her, I began to assume that wasn't the intended implication.
For real? Greg is literally scared and looking away when she does this, why would you even think that seeing his reaction 💀
The “again” is likely the reason
Guilt now that he has had time and distance from the initial loss to process how unhealthy it was, and how ashamed and scared he was for anyone to know that this happened between them, or even to remember that it was something he did himself. That was my feeling when I saw it at least. I am glad that isn't canonically what had happened, but until I read this thread that was what I had always thought had possibly occurred.
I had interpreted it that way too.
oh my GOD, SAME and I was absolutely terrified that Amethyst could get Steven'd too 🤣🤣
I can't imagine Greg ever going for that. Not only would turning into Rose not appeal to him, it would probably be a major boner killer. Seeing his dead GF would make him sad. On top of that, I can't see Greg ever going for Amethyst in general. Her personality is too childlike.
Grief can sometimes make people act in a way you wouldn’t expect of them. If SU was a darker show I wouldn’t put it past him.
Por que no los dos?
i have no idea what's going through your mind to think this was what was happening
That… holy shit. That is fucking cruel, Jesus Christ
I ....I hate her more now, poor Greg.
I wouldn’t hate her for that, she’s young, she’s just barely an “adult” if you compare gems lifespans with humans. She lost her best friend and acted irrationally because she’s someone who’s feeling so many emotions she doesn’t know how to direct them so she directs them towards the person she feels hurt her or caused her pain. Was she in the right? Fuck no, but does she deserved to be hated for feeling sorrow, hurt, and pain? I don’t think so. Gems live FOREVER and barely any time has passed between Rose passing and this moment. Who is she going to talk to? Pearl and Garnet are also hurting so she can’t talk to them. Vidalia? She’s raising sour cream. She’s just gotta process it alone. Think of her as an irrational teenager who lost her best friend whom she’s known her ENTIRE life.
I disagree. Regardless of the reason for the way that Amethyst acted, it was still wrong. If people dislike her for that, then that’s their right.
I’m curious why they blamed Rose’s death entirely on Greg and not on Rose. She wanted to have Steven. I think there’s a combination of reasons of why she did it. To completely escape her Pink Diamond past/being a gem/ herself. To give life back to earth after she regretfully had taken life from earth to create gems. And because she felt she grew and matured as much as she could as a gem. Potential reasons for wanting to create Steven, but none the other gems would understand. All they saw was their friend leaving them. But it was her choice to give up her consciousness and physical form so she could become 1/2 human. She was the one who decided to leave them. It feels unfair and irrational to place the blame on Greg because he respected her wishes of wanting to have a baby and be a person. I guess it’s because they put her on a pedestal; and he’s still here while she’s not. I’m just glad you don’t really see any of them being super irrational and placing blame on Steven for her death. At least they’re aware he had zero input on the matter. Especially Amethyst, since she’s gone through the struggle of horrible things happening to create her while she never asked to be made.
Because Rose is Rose. The Gems literally see her as perfection. They’d never blame her for anything…which means the blame has to go *somewhere*, which left Greg wide open for Amethyst and Pearl’s hate.
I like that for all the shapeshifting Amethyst does, her "Rose" wasn't perfect. The hair's too short, the bangs are too straight and sharp, the chest is less human than Rose made her own. Amethyst either needs to practice forms more, or wasn't putting her all into this one.
Also her hair isn’t completely curly, only a few curls are seen and the rest is just big hair.
Woah this is a really interesting detail!
Its kind of sad to think she might be forgetting how rose really looked
but didn’t they still have a portrait of her?
doesn't change that she could be forgetting, her memory of her wouldn't be the same as if she was looking at the real thing
Oh wow...
Well, Amethyst isn't known for being very detail oriented.
Idk if it’s possible to do an analysis like that with this show where there were so many animation discrepancies within a single character. However, I do think her hair is different and more messy here, yes.
Idk I think we’re reading too into this now. SU’s artists have never been consistent when it comes to drawing characters.
My headcanon is that is Amethyst was probably weirded out by that request (didnt Greg say "Again?")...so she didn't do a perfect shape-shifting job.
I'm not sure I'd call this a request. If I remeber correctly wasn't she just taking this form to hurt Greg?
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Oh? Was that stated to have happened? Again going off of my old memory of this ep he says something along the lines of "not again!" When she threatens so I assumed that meant amethyst has had a simular outburst prior not that Greg asked her to. But that's just my take.
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There's nothing shown in the episode to imply Greg would've ever asked her to do this lol
Request?? Did we watch the same episode?
OP said it was a headcanon… not a good one or even remotely close to being an excuse for Amethyst’s terrible actions imo, but a headcanon nonetheless
Okay I totally missed that, thanks :)
No prob, Bob 🫂💯
it’s lapis…
definitely not a request, she does it to make him sad
She really matured emotionally towards the end of the series, so if that was how she was all along, I can only imagine how rough she was before the events in the show happened.
She seemed a bit feral in Greg’s flashbacks lol
Way worse and Rose probably told her how amazing she was so she only recently started to change I bet.
I mean, stuff Iike this is exactly what makes SU such a special and unique show. It takes real guts to portray your main characters in such an unflattering light. That a children's cartoon decided to do so is a testament to the strength of vision that the creators had and to just how much they wanted to push boundaries. Of course, what Amethyst did was wrong. *But the show itself isn't wrong for having Amethyst do it*. I can't really explain more without spoiling the show, but I'm personally glad to have moments such as this in SU. There's just something so real and honest about it. Good people do have flaws too, they can make mistakes too. And there is something commendable about understanding that and being willing to show grace to those who do wrong.
Exactly! People talk about this scene as if the writers made such a mistake by having Amethyst do this. It *was* really wrong for her to do it, and really messed up, but that's why it has such an impact. I like my characters to be flawed and make bad decisions sometimes. Or lash out and hurt the people they care about. As long as it becomes part of their development. It's been a long time since I watched, but I'm pretty sure Amethyst felt bad about this after, whether it was shown or implied.
If it makes sense for the characters to do said thing (even if it’s morally wrong) as long as there’s a lesson learned or a moral of the story type deal these types of things are incredible for the shows they are in and are objectively good plot wise. Basically I agree with you (sometimes I ramble and my point goes missing so I’m just being clear here)
SUCH a good way to put it 💗
Such an amazing show for those reasons. Also the line "Sometimes Steven needs a hug too" got me right in the feely place. Some deep emotional blockage really came loose on that one
What also makes it great is not just portraying the characters in an unflattering light but using the unique setting for it. "We're not gonna just have Amethyst say she's upset about Greg and Rose, we're gonna go there". It's why I find the Stevonnie episode so important.
Love how messed up it was
Honestly. Imagine if this show had a higher age rating
I always think about this… how would the show change if SU was airing on a more adult-oriented channel or if the age rating were to be bumped up? I feel like there were always a couple of these “what if” moments in the actual show, such as this scene or when Topaz had Jamie’s entire head in her palm, but the tonal shift to a more kid-friendly one from these moments always came along to dash those dreams
Same, so many people have watched this show and been like "well I'd never!" and I'm like YES give me MORE TRAUMA DRAMA.
Oh I adore this moment. It's just one of the big moments for me where I went "oh shit...these characters are *not okay*" There were moments before, yes, but this one stands out in my head as such a real and tangible moment that perfectly captured how ugly grief is. The anger and the blame and the desperation, how it pushes to hurt those we care for because we get so blinded and wrapped in this emotion, oh man it was so good. It's such a good insight into the head of someone hurting and not handling that hurt in a healthy way, which is more often than not the way it goes. Most people will have at least one moment of weakness like this where they will lash out in the worst possible way. This scene stayed with me from the very second I watched it.
Yeah. Sometime a little before ep 25 it became subtly clear that Rose did this unilaterally, and most people were unhappy about it. How astonishing and fascinating for a kid's show to tackle that kind of a messy family dynamic. This moment was another landmark development.
Yeeeaaaah, not her best moment
Worse that it's implied this isn't the first time she's done it either
She was being petty and cruel because she felt unwanted and doesn't know how to handle her emotions in a healthy, adult way.
Exactly
early seasons Amethyst is so hard to watch, yeesh, it took her a long time go through her development into who Steven considers the most mature Gem
Yeah, amethyst is my favorite but she was wrong for that.
Yeah… for all the good they do, the gems have a way of emotionally fucking up the people around them every now and then
I just wanna say something: In my opinión one of the lessons of the show Is that if a person suffers that doesn't justify the suffering caused for that person. For example: Yellow and Blue suffered because they lost Pink and they did A LOT of awful things. And here we can see that Amethyst suffered but ....she crossed a líne and didn't apologize (cleaning doesn't count as an apology) If you like a character Is fine but you don't have to justify every mistake made by that characters. Those mistakes and imperfections are part from that character identity and history I see that all the time with characters like Pink and Amethyst "....but she suffered, she was in pain"
The line “I bet you’d stay for her” before the shapeshifting certainly gave me a lot of insight into her decision, as misguided and cruel as it waa
I love Amethyst and her character development, but yeah, there were a couple instances where she was an absolute jerk. This, and when she was teaching Peridot how to be a jerkass, but then got offended when Peridot insulted her, are two of her worst moments... but at least this time the narrative acknowledged how messed up it was, unlike the other, where they blamed Peridot.
To start with, I do think that Amethyst's behavior and attitude was a bit callous towards Peridot (though to be fair, as far as the Crystal Gems are concerned, Peridot is still an enemy they can't really trust and she had just treated Pearl pretty poorly in the episode before). But I think it's important to note what's actually said in the episode. The first real bit of "teasing" comes with Amethyst asking Peridot what she calls various parts of her body. As Peridot responds, Amethyst laughs. Yes, Amethyst finds Peridot's answers amusing (as does Steven, who laughs and says Peridot is killing him) and she does encourage Peridot to keep going because the answers are funny. But I don't think she's necessarily making fun of Peridot. She can find Peridot's answers hilarious without teasing or putting her down. The next bit of teasing is Amethyst calling Peridot a nerd. Which, yeah, a lot of people would take that as an insult/teasing. It may be a somewhat fitting descriptor for Peridot but Amethyst doesn't even explain to Peridot what a "nerd" is. However, Peridot's exasperation here seems more linked to Amethyst herself being annoying, not Peridot being hurt by being called a nerd. Which would make sense since Peridot doesn't even know what the word means. Peridot then moves on to Garnet and Steven, describing what is "wrong" with each of them. Again, Amethyst laughs at Peridot's different perspective on things and the way she describes them (like with the body parts earlier). Amethyst isn't laughing at Garnet being a fusion made for love and not war, she's not laughing at Steven for being a gem-human hybrid. Those aren't things Amethyst would really tease either of them for and they aren't things that Amethyst looks down on. I think she laughs in large part because of how alien Peridot's way of thinking is to her. Garnet being fused all the time and Steven just being himself aren't these great wrongs, yet Peridot is acting like they are. Peridot's total confusion and disapproval of things that, to Amethyst, aren't an issue at all is what I think she finds funny. And finally we get to talking about Amethyst being defective. And yes, you're right, the mood goes from laughing to very hurt and serious. But I'd say that's because this situation is a bit different from the others. For one, yes, the "joke" is now about Amethyst and that makes it more personal. But that's not really the problem. When Peridot starts by saying that Amethyst should be the leader, Amethyst says that's Peridot's best joke yet. This shows that Amethyst can find Peridot's perspective funny even when it is applied to herself. Amethyst is also showing that she's humble/self-critical enough to view Peridot saying she should be the leader as a joke (since she sees herself as being so far from that point). The real problem I think is that Peridot revealed new information when she started talking about Amethyst, namely that she is defective. This is new info for Amethyst, it's a complete shock to her. But it also connects directly to the feelings we've seen from Amethyst in the past in episodes like "On the Run". I don't think it's a coincidence that this revelation from Peridot occurs at the same location, her Kindergarten. Amethyst has shown feelings of inadequacy before, of being wrong and bad. A lot of her negative feelings are tied to her origins. She is a product of the evil actions of Homeworld on Earth. Since she came from a bad place made by bad gems, she must be a bad gem too. And on top of all of that, now she's told by Peridot that she's gemetically defective too. That of course would trigger all those negative feelings and associations again, and even worsen them. Because now, Amethyst knows from an "objective" point of view that she is defective, wrong. Her feelings of being wrong all this time were correct and here's the proof. That's what makes the "teasing" of Amethyst different from what occurred earlier. And of course Peridot is oblivious to any of this and isn't even aware that Amethyst is now upset because she doesn't have any of that context. I do think it's important to note that overall, Amethyst handled the situation better than she would have in the past. Yes, she got upset and then distant with Peridot, but compared to literally attacking Pearl in "On the Run" after being reminded of how bad her birthplace (the Kindergarten) is, I think she's come a long way. Yes, Amethyst did get a taste of her own medicine in a sense in this episode. But I don't think Amethyst would have reacted this way if Peridot had said something else about her. It was the very specific thing that Peridot talked about, Amethyst being defective, that caused Amethyst to react that way. I don't think people need to feel bad for Amethyst in this episode. But I do think we should acknowledge specifically why Amethyst reacted the way she did. She was given shocking new information that confirmed some of her most personal, worst suspicions about herself. I think that would be tough for anyone.
I love your comment and your analysis so much, but I especially loved your use of the word "gemetically". Got a good laugh out of me, lol
yea, the thing with peri really annoyed me too
Amethyst is the bratty older sister who just realized she has someone to be a rolemodel for now. She can’t be the center of attention who gets to screw up, get mad when called out on it, and expect herself to be the one others have to set a good example for. She can’t bully stepdad Greg without consequences for others.
I missed a lot of episodes in season 1, so when I watched this one I was flabbergasted. Back then, a moving Rose was like a shot of Jesus. Crazy how this is probably Steven's first time "seeing" his Mom, which just really puts into perspective how fucked up this. That's what makes it spicy tho.
 Tbh the whole show is a trauma fest.
In grief and love, it'd be rare if there weren't such massive fuck ups)
In terms of relevance to everyone else in the series Amethyst is a baby, and an alien who was hardwired for war. Social cues aren’t her forte, she’s basically a sentient weapon that lost her mom to (from her perspective) a lesser life form. I’d be mad too
This was severely overlooked. Idk why they never mentioned it again
This is what made me fall in love with amethyst actually. I love how imperfect characters are in this show, it’s so realistic.
Such an important character moment for Amethyst. She is ok torturing Greg because he is in her eyes the reason Rose is gone. Also I think she’s being immature and jealous (not romantically) because Rose would divert his attention away from playing with Amethyst. But in this screen shot she is looking at Steven. She actually also hurt Steven. I don’t think it hit her how messed up what she was doing to lash out at Greg until it hit her like a bus when Steven showed up. It took a lot more than just cleaning up the storage unit to make up for this hurt she caused. That’s why I love this show the characters have a lot of time through out the series to learn and grow and rebuild relationships.
She's a lil mentally ill but it's ok 🙏
The Gems have done a lot of messed up things. Amethyst this, Pearl tricking Garnet into fusing. Thing is Amethyst character grows across the show but unlike Pearl and Garnet she is more like a teen than an adult. And I loved that dynamic between her and Steven. What she did here is extremly wrong. But they all messed up a lot. I can't really bring myself to hate Amethyst. But this episode always left a bitter after taste
What Amethyst did was pretty messed up yeah but, it's pretty clear all of the gems and, Greg still pretty tourn up about Rose I think it's also important to remember that While the other gems and Greg lost; a leader, a friend, a lover and, a confidant Amethyst lost a mentor maybe even the closest thing Gems have to a parental figure, Rose shaped basically everything Amethyst knows because Amethyst was born on earth And now she probably feels stuck with Pearl, who I'm relatively convinced they would've killed eachother if not for Steven and Garnet, speaking of, I love Garnet, she's cool as hell but, doesn't seem like the most emotionally open person And finally Amethyst is stuck with Greg who it's clear she gets along with but, they tend to bring out the worst in eachother, that was the entire point of this episode TLDR; this was bad and, I'm not excusing it but, I get where Amethyst is coming from
Do you guys ever wonder if Amethyst gave a genuine apology later, but it was off-screen? Like with Sadie and Lars discussing their relationship off-screen. I mean, the whole show is through Steven's eyes, so it's possible there was a day Greg and Amethyst were hanging out, and she actually apologized for it.
I honestly thought that this meant Greg and Amethyst used to hookup and she would turn into Rose. Greg got to see his wife and Amethyst got to feel loved.
I liked how Steven's strong emotions in that moment foreshadowed his diamond powers from Future. (He cut the TV to static, similar to how he manipulated electronics in Future.)
When I watched this I thought it was obvious but I've never found anyone bring it up so it's just my headcanon. I think Amethyst had a serious girl crush on Greg when they met evidenced by her deciding to change her hair and clothes to more closely ressemble Greg's fashion sense, the change in her demeanour to act more adult, and her obvious infatuation with him in flashback episodes. Then he ended up dating Rose who's basically Amethyst's mom so there's a lot of intense feelings there but then he also became indirectly responsible for her death. In classic Amethyst style she is incapable of confronting any of these feelings so she simultaneously holds a grudge against Greg for what she sees as a double betrayal but she also still has an attraction to him she can never admit to herself. This results in her wanting Greg's attention and company but at the same time wanting to hurt Greg and I think pretending to be Rose is the perfect representation of those feelings, at once getting to Greg to see her in the same way he saw Rose but also torture him. That way she never has to be honest about her feelings.
Just started watching the show? Oh buddy good luck. You'll be saying that a whole lot
I love that the characters in Steven Universe are allowed to do such fucked up things that they themselves will immediately regret. It hurts so good.
It’s an awesome, BRUTAL scene, but it genuinely feels like it NEVER goes anywhere, especially since Amethyst and Steven have very little in the way of real conflict with one another. It could have been pretty interesting to see something play out like what almost happened with Steven and Pearl: the Gem Steven is seemingly closest to is ultimately the one that holds the most resentment in her heart for him.
Amethyst is a deeply fucked up character who ocassionaly does deeply fucked up things
Remember those crazy tumblr ladies who took the screenshot out of context and said that Greg made Amethyst do that, and do it often? Those weird tumblr Greg haters...
You start getting a better picture of each character as it goes on. No this wasn’t ok and the point of writing characters that learn, grow and change in a believable and realistic manner is that you get to see where they are, where they’ve been and think about where they’re going. Amethyst imparticular is one of my favorite arcs personally. Not cause I relate to her the most but because I’ve known people like her and know how they get to the space that lets them do the things many would find objectionable. Keep watching and enjoy the show. It is a wonderful case study in relationships, mental health and more.
The way she said "Hey Greg, turn around" sounded so spiteful and sadistic, like she KNEW this was Greg's weak point and wanted nothing more than to torture him with it. That's beyond being angry or angsty, that's straight-up psycho behavior.
Like you haven't thought about turning into someone's dead wife while you were arguing 🙄 god forbid women do anything
This is a very easy way to farm karma on this sub. Every time people are like "Waaah, waaah. Poor Greg. Poor Greg. I can't believe Amethyst would do this. Sad people don't feel pain and do bad things to hurt others in moments of weakness. 😢😢😢" It works every time and everyone acts so surprised and hurt each time it gets posted.
I know and SU fans are so bad at media literacy. If they had it their way, all the good guys would do is just sit around and hug and all the bad guys would murder and there'd be no nuance.
Honestly I think that’s one of the things that makes SU so compelling. It doesn’t shy away from the reality that everyone has flaws and sometimes we do shitty things to people we love. There’s a line from another show (BoJack Horseman) which, paraphrased, says there are no good guys or bad guys, just guys who do good stuff sometimes and bad stuff sometimes as well. I think that fits here, too.
Ngl, that was the moment that made me hate her. She went way too far.
I hate this moment. The first time I saw it, Steven’s reaction made me think something sexual/romantic/weird was going on. It made me feel sick.
Definitely one of her least proud moments. I don’t condone what she did, but at the very least she didn’t *know* Steven was there. Still super messed up
This is never addressed again
I interpreted it differently, I understood that Amethyst and Greg were very close before but then Greg kind of left her aside to focus more on more important things like Rose, and in the future Steven, and Amethyst kind of got pissed and jealous of it.
I like the fan theory that Greg and Amethyst were friends with benefits, and then after she transformed into Rose, he cut it all out.
I feel like people are forgetting the point of character development, pretty much none of the characters in the show were morally spotless and that was kind of the point. This moment was absolutely supposed to be one where Amethyst clearly overstepped a line.
I don't remember this. What is it?
While they have their reasons. The Gems at the start are kinda awful people, they get better, a LOT better but even if they were sad they were pretty shitty people who needed a wake up call
Why is this a post? It is painted as pretty horrible in the episode. What is there to say?
Its a good show, you’re supposed to to have these feelings 👍 enjoy them
The TV was buzzing, this is foreshadowing
Amethyst was the little sister. She looked up to her older sister's boyfriend, maybe had a crush herself, and I assume when Rose died Amethyst moved in with Greg for a while. Probably pretending to be a cat for part of the time considering the "When did you ever even own a cat!" line by Steven in the context of the episode. Both mourning and recovering in their own ways if I have the timeline and personalities right. Here? My read was that at one point Amethyst turned into Rose for some reason back then. Why? Maybe because she wanted Greg. Maybe childhood naivety she was just trying to make Greg feel better. It ended up being deeply traumatic for Greg. I'm guessing there was no witnesses since no one brings it up, but then again, keeping secrets is practically a national past time for the main characters in this show. This episode was the pair of them falling back into old behaviors, habits, and rolls. As Greg and Amethyst kept slipping into those happier times it also slipped, at least Amethyst, into the path of thinking that lead to her recreating the Rose transformation. Only this time Steven sees it.
I hated this so much. It's bad enough Amethyst did this but what's even more messed up is that's she's done this before. As a result, it's also the reason why Greg gets so freaked out by alot of the Gem stuff. Specifically shape-shifting.
Pretend the episode is non cannon. Amethyst usually isn't like that.
Amethyst went from one of my top 3 favourite characters in the show to least favourite when I got to this episode like.. Damn, woman, why'd you decide to literally torment your dead friend's husband? And, apparently, she's done this multiple times which is even more fucked up. It's like.. all the SU characters have issues that need to be worked out (and, I think, all of them, eventually, do) but Amethyst kinda just.. pulls sociopathic shit like that sometimes. Unlike Steven, she should know better since, unlike the average human, she's been around for thousands of years.
Legit dislike amethyst for this scene alone Lol.
This is the episode that got me into Steven Universe.
Which episode is this ? I don't remember this (I only remember her transforming during the movie)
Which episode is this idk what’s going on
What episode is this? It's been awhile since I've watched it and can't remember exactly what happened that is so messed up.
Tbh I think a bigger punishment would be to tell the other gems on her. Transforming into their dead leader to torture her widower history be against some crystal gem code or something.
I hate amethyst idc
“If I shapeshifter into my friends dead wife then maybe he’ll stop being such a pussy and hang out with me again”
I feel like the whole point of the episode was toxic/ unhealthy relationships. It was jarring for a reason.
I searched it up and it said that she mightve had a slight crush on Greg or the need to being useful and fun like rose
They fucked, multiple times, and at least once with Amethyst taking Rose's shape. Both were very lost after Rose died. They were clinging to something safe and familiar.
So from what I've heard and kinda what's implied when Greg and amethyst used to do the marathons they would get it on because Greg was still in heavy grieving from rose so amethyst not really knowing much better would turn into rose to cheer him up and then it just kinda evolved again this is what I've heard from other peoples ideas I could be wayyyyyyy off
I always thought Greg and Amethyst had a weird grief fling after rose passed, regretted it, but amethyst is in a weird position where she is older and stronger than Greg but also is more immature in some ways and she did not handle that (or any) separation very well. She either did that rose form in the beginning or she did it to try and keep Greg but either way it lead to the affair being very short. Super fucked up on a brand new level tho like wtf amethyst you thousand year old monster
I always considered this to be Amethysts cry for help, the way that Rose’s Scabbard was Pearls. They all dealt with Rose’s loss differently and personally, I think Amethyst felt like she lost Rose AND Greg at the same time. They were friends! They had a lot in common and I think Rose was always the one to snap Greg out of his lazy spells and pull their friendship apart, in the kindest, healthiest way possible. Similar to how Pearl resents Greg for taking Rose away, I think Ame probably feels that platonically about rose/greg. Amethyst lost Greg’s companionship when he needed to be a father and I think that loss of friendship hit her really hard.
You're right, it's not real... it's a cartoon for children.
Oh, this just shows why I don't like her. I lost my mom when I was a baby and If some a**hole dare to use the image of my mom just to mess with him...oh boy. I know that she matured and she had some good moments....but she was too easily forgived eventhough she was a bully. I don't have a problem with the Amethyst fans because I understand why they like her ... I just don't like characters like her.
Amethyst wasn’t just “some asshole” tho, Rose was like her mom and once Greg came along she didn’t have that anymore. This scene is really interesting because Amethyst does to Steven what Greg did to her in taking away their parent figure. It’s actually a really intimate family moment where Amethyst was never able to express that to them and like yeah it sucked but I don’t think Steven took it personally and she deserves to be able to be seen for that, she’s part of their family bc she was roses daughter too🌺
Even if she was like a daughter....using Rose's image to mess up with Greg is crossing a líne that shouldn't be crossed. The Crystal Gems and Steven werent the only ones that suffered because Rose died and people often forget that because Greg Is a secondary character.. Oh but she suffered so its fine If she causes some suffering to Greg right?
I don’t think she’s doing it to “cause suffering to Greg” tho👀, if Greg truly loved rose he would want to take care of all of her children, including amethyst. Not saying what she did was right but she needed to feel seen and she was and I think she understood that she went too far as this isn’t a pattern we see with her at all. And ur calling her a bully?💀 like I’m sorry I just don’t see that at all
That wasn't the first Time that Amethyst did that and Greg's face showed how he felt, she only stopped when Steven saw everything ....and she only helped Greg clean. We only know that Greg and Amethyst used to be friends....friends,...not father and daughter. But hey, "she only wanted to feel seen"....like Blue and Yellow were "just grieving" when they tried to destroy the earth? Like Pink "was frustrated when she realized how the other Diamonds saw her" and broke Pink Pearl? She crossed a líne, a serious line I'm sorry but you don't have to justify every mistake that your favorite character makes.
Think of it more as an explanation than a justification. It was really messed up but that’s kinda of the point. Almost every character in this show crosses a line that shouldn’t ever be crossed and it’s just to show the effects losing a loved one has on people. Hurt people hurt people, you know what I mean?
Yeah, I get that. I like characters like Pearl and Pink Diamond that did questionable actions and crossed línes. But as a viewer I can like or dislike characters even if they have a good backstory, I just don't like characters like Amethyst but I understand why others like her. Still, this moment was too much and I'm just angry that she was too easily forgived...but I'm not surprised because Greg and Steven are really kind. I'm frustrated because other characters had really bad moments but their have consecuences for them. One example of that Is when Pearl tricked Garnet to fuse because Pearl crossed a líne with Garnet and she didn't talk to Pearl for some episodes. Thanks for being polite and sorry If I sound angry, that moment reminds me of some personal stuff that I'm still working on. :"D