post-“Jail Break”, a lot of us rather inevitably and understandably started using its ‘Garnet is a fusion of Ruby and Sapphire’ revelation to both interpret Garnet in subsequent episodes and to recontextualize her admittedly stoic, withdrawn behavior throughout Season 1.
this sort of ‘recontextualization effect’ encouraged some funny fandom trends–like figuring out what Ruby and Sapphire were feeling/thinking during moments like Garnet’s infamous telephone conversation with Dr. Maheswaran in “Fusion Cuisine” or the duration of Garnet’s fusion with Amethyst in “Coach Steven”. and those were mostly harmless, but allowing Ruby and Sapphire’s love to determine our understanding of Garnet as a wholly happy, healthy relationship–even over behavior that suggested something deeper and different–really does Garnet a huge disservice.
Garnet isn’t just Ruby and Sapphire in a trench coat, or Ruby and Sapphire copiloting Garnet’s body.
Garnet embodies Ruby and Sapphire’s love, and she’s a gestalt–her own, distinct person, with her own personality and experiences, who’s quite literally greater than the sum of her parts.
during The Week of Sardonyx, a lot of us–including myself–noted that, because she embodies Ruby and Sapphire’s loving relationship, Garnet couldn’t really comprehend the depths of Amethyst’s and Pearl’s loneliness, insecurity, self-loathing, and lack of self-esteem…
…and while there’s definitely more to it than I originally understood, I still believe that point has a little merit. while Amethyst and Pearl once had Rose to help them work through their issues and remind them that they were valued and loved, Rose ultimately abandoned her physical form to have Steven–and even before that, it was impossible for Rose to always be there for Amethyst and Pearl in the same way that Ruby and Sapphire are for one another, because they’re “always together”. like Pearl, it’s very likely that Ruby and Sapphire experienced marginalization and oppression on Homeworld…but by fusing out of love, they’re able to lend each other constant, unconditional support and achieve a transcendent sense of togetherness.
that unconditional love, constant support, and transcendent togetherness of Ruby and Sapphire’s fusion are the foundation of Garnet’s very being. in her own words, Garnet has told Steven on two separate occasions that being a fusion makes her feel like she’s never alone…
…and the relative emotional stability and security she feels because of that–along with her unique abilities and amplified strength as a fusion–are probably the qualities that made her the best candidate to step up as the Crystal Gems’ new leader after Rose gave up her physical form.
but–and I cannot stress this enough–none of those qualities preclude Garnet from longing for significant connections with others, experiencing loneliness, or having her own insecurities. Ruby and Sapphire may always be together, but Garnet is her own person with her own feelings, thoughts, emotional needs, and relationships with the others. Garnet’s are different from Amethyst’s and Pearl’s, but hers are just as valid as theirs.
in fact, Garnet’s behavior and interactions with the other Crystal Gems throughout the series establish that she wants connection keenly…but deliberately distances and holds herself back from her teammates emotionally, hence her ‘stoic’ and ‘put together’ exterior.
the most obvious reason for Garnet deliberately putting up that front is because she believes that she must project control, decisiveness, resoluteness, and strength to lead Amethyst and Pearl through their emotional turmoil and grief over Rose’s passing, help Steven feel safe, secure, and stable among them as a new Crystal Gem, and keep the all of them together as the Crystal Gems. in Rose’s absence, Garnet gives her all to hold her dear friends from coming undone–even though Garnet distances herself from them…and denies herself the connection and support she needs in the process.
in “Friend Ship”, Garnet herself tells Pearl as much.
Garnet: It’s not easy being in control. I have weaknesses too, but I choose not to let them consume me. I struggle to stay strong because I know the impact I have on everyone.
even though we haven’t received the Garnet-focused counterpart to Amethyst’s “Maximum Capacity” and Pearl’s “Rose’s Scabbard”–episodes that showed us what kinds of relationships Amethyst and Pearl had with Rose, and how their grief over her passing still affects them–yet, it’s crucial to remember that Garnet loved Rose too, and that she doubtlessly had her own, significant relationship with her. Garnet is grieving Rose as surely as Amethyst and Pearl are. her compartmentalization skills don’t detract from that. whether she’s processed and worked through her grief to the degree that she’s better, or she’s been putting that off until Amethyst and Pearl have…we don’t know, but it’s not a stretch to say that Garnet’s grief over Rose’s passing may play a role in her remove.
but there’s a third, somewhat harder to discern reason. Garnet’s impact on the team isn’t solely her ability as their leader. there’s also her self-restraint.
Garnet is acutely self-aware. she knows that she is powerful. she also knows that she is made of love–and she knows that her power and her love can make her overwhelming and volatile.
Amethyst may blame herself for getting carried away and causing Sugilite’s rampage in “Coach Steven”, but it was Garnet who brought up forming Sugilite in the first place…
…and it was Garnet who dismissed Pearl’s concerns about Sugilite’s potential volatility and went ahead with it anyway.
both Garnet and Amethyst contributed to Sugilite going berserk; both Garnet and Amethyst got carried away with how great it felt to be Sugilite again–and Garnet acknowledges it:
Garnet: I can be rash, and you can be reckless–and we can both get carried away.
fusion isn’t a one-way street. Garnet enjoys sharing herself with Amethyst and forming Sugilite just as much as Amethyst does, and Garnet derives her own satisfaction and fulfillment from experiencing Sugilite’s massive strength. but after seeing the damage she and Amethyst caused in“Coach Steven”, Garnet concludes that she can’t trust herself to hold back and keep control with Amethyst when they form Sugilite–so she decides to ‘bench Sugilite’ until she can trust herself.
if it isn’t obvious already, Garnet’s emotional remove and self-restraint aren’t the most well-adjusted of coping strategies. they also don’t make for ideal leadership or interpersonal relationship-building methods either.
by holding herself at an emotional distance from Amethyst and Pearl, Garnet not only denies herself the close connection and support she wants to have with them…but contributes toward a relationship dynamic wherein Amethyst and Pearl buy into her composed front, transfer many of the emotional needs Rose fulfilled for them onto Garnet, and idolize her as a fount of strength whose approval they need to the point of desperation…
…which leads to Amethyst and Pearl depending on Garnet to have an answer for everything, which is immense and unrealistic pressure for her to live up to…
Amethyst: Garnet, do something…!
…Amethyst and Pearl literally fearing Garnet to the extent that they’d keep the gem shards they accidentally released into the temple in “Secret Team” a secret from her, then pin all the blame on Steven to avoid accepting the blame themselves (which causes team fragmentation and drives them further away from Garnet as equals/friends)…
…Amethyst being unable to realize that Garnet isn’t blaming her for what happened with Sugilite, because Amethyst genuinely believes that Garnet is better than her and couldn’t possibly be responsible…
…and both Amethyst and Pearl failing to understand Garnet’s nature as a fusion, and the significance that fusion has to her–which leads to situations like both Amethyst and Pearl using fusion with Garnet to feel better about themselves for a little while; Amethyst feeling that she has to earn Garnet’s trust back for their errors as Sugilite; Pearl not internalizing that Garnet loved forming Sardonyx as much as she did and resorting to tricking her and putting them all at risk to create justifications to fuse; and Pearl not realizing that Garnet was upset at her for lying and breaking her trust and disrespecting fusion, thus her insistence on chasing Peridot with a single-minded focus in an effort to prove to Garnet that she could trust her again…even though Peridot had nothing to do with the reason Garnet was so angry and upset with Pearl.
Garnet’s reluctance to communicate openly with her teammates and reveal her vulnerabilities to them contributed to the current dysfunction in their relationships–which isn’t to say that Garnet is most responsible, because she isn’t.
rather, Garnet’s emotional remove and resolve to be this kind of leader enable Amethyst and Pearl to continue using her as an emotional crutch and looking to her as a perfect superior instead of as an equal who needs their support too.
–
but if there’s one relationship that Garnet has approached with more openness, then it’s her relationship with Steven. so it follows that her relationship with Steven most reveals Garnet’s desire for connection with someone who can understand her.
why Steven? well, I think it has to do with their similar natures.
Garnet is a fusion of two gems who chose to remain fused permanently out of love. she is, as far as we know, unique. no one can truly understand what it’s like to be her, because Garnet figures that out on her own as she goes along–which can be rather lonely.
Steven is a gem-human hybrid. we know for a fact that he is unique; nothing like Steven has ever existed before. no one can truly understand what it’s like to be him. only Steven can figure out how to balance his gem half with his human half–and that, Steven is finding more and more in recent episodes, is incredibly lonely.
but Garnet is probably the best qualified to empathize with Steven, and she does try her best to make his journey as less lonely as she can: she insists on letting Steven interact with Greg and Connie and other humans, for example. Garnet also understands and admits that she, Amethyst, and Pearl don’t know what Steven needs (“The Test”)…
…but she’s also the first Crystal Gem to take a leap of faith and “Believe in Steven” wholeheartedly, encouraging him to believe in himself and attempt to tame the Centipeetle, and use his healing powers, and ‘keep the harmony’ between Amethyst and Pearl–a responsibility Garnet carried on her own, but entrusts Steven with!
there’ve been remarks to the extent that “Steven is the fusion of Greg and Rose”, and while that’s not precisely accurate–it’s true in that Steven is two things at once. he is a human, but not wholly. he is a gem, but not wholly. he is both and neither–he is something new and unique, and more. he’s Steven.
given the way Garnet ‘defined’ fusion for Greg in “We Need to Talk”, then Steven does take on that significance to her. Steven is Greg and Rose’s ‘fusion’, a product and embodiment of their love. how could Garnet not identify with Steven so keenly?
I really feel like Garnet’s identification with Steven gets kicked into overdrive after “Alone Together”, for rather obvious reasons.
of all the fusions we’ve met so far, Stevonnie is definitely the “closest” to Garnet: they seem to be a spontaneous love/comfort-based fusion like Garnet, and are even more “unique” in that fusion between gems and humans had been impossible before that. suddenly, Garnet has found someone like her–so she encourages them to have fun and celebrate who they are together (the encouragement that she never would have received on Homeworld). even after Stevonnie unfuses, Steven can relate to Garnet like no one else has before.
so it’s really perfect that “Future Vision” airs almost directly after “Alone Together”, with only “The Test” between them.
“Future Vision” marks Garnet’s most significant self-initiated attempt for connection with Steven yet. probably excited to bond with Steven after she met Stevonnie, Garnet decides to tell him about her future vision…despite the fact that she foresaw that confiding in him could cause him a great deal of distress and put him in danger…because she also saw the possibility that she and Steven might grow closer if she did.
like with Sugilite, Garnet is horrified to find that her impulsive gamble has gone wrong in the worst way possible…
…which might have reinforced that she is overwhelming and dangerous when she reaches out like this and closed her off even more…but something really curious and really special happens instead.
Garnet tells Steven the truth about why she told him about her future vision, even admitting to her desire to grow closer with him as she apologizes for hurting him…
…and her honesty, her vulnerability make it so that future she saw where she and Steven would become closer comes true.
their relationship benefits from her honesty and willingness to show him some of her flaws. because of that, she can trust him with another part of herself, and share it with him too.
but my favorite moment between Garnet and Steven–and, I think, the most significant one yet–takes place in “Jail Break”.
when Steven helps Ruby and Sapphire reunite and re-fuse, Garnet reforms with the afterglow of their happiness and relief of finding one another again. it’s like–by forcing Garnet to un-fuse–Jasper unwittingly gave Garnet the opportunity to reacquaint herself with the joy of being herself, which I think contributes a lot to how much more emotive Garnet becomes post-“Jail Break”!
…yet when Steven exclaims that she’s a fusion, Garnet reacts with sudden anxiety and guilt:
it’s almost as though Garnet expects Steven to reject her. maybe it’s an effect of confronting Jasper’s prejudice against and disdain for fusion, or shame that Ruby and Sapphire internalized about fusion and themselves as Homeworld gems. (remember how Ruby’s first reaction to seeing Steven outside her cell was to try and hide from him? to get him not to look at her?) perhaps she feels like Steven will be upset with her for hiding something so integral to her identity from him…but the fact remains is that Garnet is expressively anxious about Steven’s reaction will be.
can you blame her though? Garnet had planned out how she was going to reveal this part of herself to Steven…but Jasper and the gem destabilizer forced Ruby and Sapphire into a position where they needed Steven to reunite. Garnet’s agency in how she’d tell Steven was taken from her…and he found out in a rather traumatizing way.
but Steven isn’t upset. Steven would never think to reject her. Steven loves Garnet, and because he loves her so much…he worries if he made a good impression on Ruby and Sapphire–if the gems that make up Garnet like and accept him.
and, oh, it’s that anxiety mirrored back at her that leads to this wonderful, beautiful moment:
in Steven, Garnet finds the same unconditional love and acceptance she always tried her best to show him. and that’s what she’s always longed for from the others…and, finally, she has it–and, empowered by Steven’s love and the joy of being Garnet again, she fights Jasper with a huge grin on her face.
and Steven continues to offer her mutual support as time goes on, even and especially when Garnet most needs it.
“Keeping It Together” marks one of Garnet’s most distressed points, and understandably so. witnessing the results of the cluster experiments that Homeworld conducted on fallen Crystal Gems–forcing their gems together so that they form those agonized, patchwork forms–leaves Garnet feeling both violated…and almost like she feels personally responsible for what Homeworld chose to do: Garnet apologizes to the cluster before Ruby and Sapphire’s distress begins to un-fuse her. later, when Ruby claims, “This is punishment for the Rebellion!”, Sapphire responds, “It’s not our fault!”
this is a bit of a tangent, but please consider: maybe Garnet inspired Rose and the other Crystal Gems to explore fusion as a loving, consensual union…and the resulting strength of their fusions led many Crystal Gems to fight against Homeworld forces together. maybe Garnet was something like a Fusion Corps leader for the Rebellion, and it was her and her friends’ effectiveness that sparked Homeworld’s interest in fusion’s utility.
of course, Sapphire is right: whatever Homeworld decided to do to Garnet’s friends…whatever disgusting idea of fusion Homeworld fumbled for to recreate the Crystal Gems’ effectiveness or make use of shattered/dead gems…it has nothing to do with Garnet.
but Garnet’s distress is visceral. the cluster perverts the very foundation of her being. Ruby and Sapphire’s guilt and sorrow nearly tear Garnet apart.
the only thing that helps Garnet keep herself together is Steven’s own distress and fear over what’s happening to her. as he calls out to her, Garnet snaps out of it…
…and forces herself back together through sheer force of will to poof and bubble the cluster, for the sake of Steven’s safety.
that doesn’t mean that Garnet was able process and work through every bit of doubt, distress, shame, outrage, and isolation the cluster evoked in her. she definitely wasn’t. in fact, when Amethyst and Pearl join her and Steven in the Kindergarten control room moments later, Garnet abruptly snaps at them to focus on poofing and bubbling the clusters instead of telling them what they are or what happened, let alone how she feels about it. instead, Garnet pushes her feelings aside once again.
but Garnet can’t hide her feelings from Steven, because he witnessed her near-breakdown. sometime after the mission, Garnet waits for Steven on the laundry temple hand to talk with him privately about what happened.
after Garnet explains how disgusting Homeworld’s actions were, Steven notices that she’s still pretty torn up about it. so he asks her about herself: What’s it like, being a fusion all the time?
and that’s really, incredibly significant.
Amethyst and Pearl have their assumptions about Garnet’s nature–Pearl sums it up pretty well in “Friend Ship” when she remarks, “You’re perfect. The perfect relationship.”–but we’ve never seen them ask Garnet herself about her own experiences. the distance between them and Garnet certainly played a part in causing that, but so did Amethyst’s and Pearl’s individual issues. it’s none of their faults and all of their faults.
but Steven does. Steven wants to understand, and a big reason why is because he doesn’t have the history with Garnet that Amethyst or Pearl do. he’s a kid, and Garnet is one of his parents: of course he’s going to get curious and learn more about her as he grows up…but that doesn’t eclipse the significance the opportunity for self-articulation has for Garnet. getting to explain her unique experiences to Steven are a huge part of how she processes and begins to move past the trauma seeing the clusters caused her.
and here’s the thing: Steven doesn’t just listen to Garnet…
…he celebrates her.
just–look at how taken aback Garnet is immediately after hearing what Steven has to say about her. the clusters haven’t tarnished his perception of her. to Steven, Garnet is great. Garnet is strong. Garnet is brave. Garnet is made of love–and that’s something to celebrate. and in celebrating her, Steven also helps Garnet remember that her existence is valid, no matter what Homeworld thinks of fusion.
I cannot stress enough…the positive impact Steven has had on Garnet, and vice versa. Steven has helped all the Crystal Gems grow and move forward through their grief and complexes, but I feel like we don’t appreciate the effect he’s had on Garnet as much as we celebrate the effect he’s had on Pearl or Amethyst.
in Steven, Garnet achieves a connection beyond leader and subordinate. in Steven, Garnet finds someone who loves, accepts, and celebrates her unconditionally. through Steven, Garnet begins to abandon her stoic, distant leader persona…and starts reaching out to Pearl and Amethyst as well, building and rebuilding deeper personal relationships with them.
–
look. I definitely feel like the criticism we’ve received as a fandom from Garnet fans recently is 100% justified. we do tend to hyper-focus on Pearl and Amethyst, and while there is absolutely nothing wrong with favoring Pearl or Amethyst as characters…it’s absolutely a problem when that favoritism involves the exclusion or glossing over of Garnet as this perfect, happy character who has Ruby and Sapphire constantly making out in her head, or goes on all those solo missions as some kind of ‘dates’ with herself. we should celebrate Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship–but we must also take a page from Steven’s book and celebrate Garnet while trying to understand and unpack her as the complex, significant character that she is.
we excluded and glossed over Garnet a lot at the beginning of the Week of Sardonyx. we focused a lot on Pearl and Amethyst but failed to extend the same consideration to the complexities of Garnet’s emotional state.
so, to try and help correct that:
Garnet was just as excited to fuse with Pearl as Pearl was.
Garnet loved forming Sardonyx with Pearl just as much as Pearl did.
Garnet felt just as jubilant as Pearl did when they unfused, and yeah–the way Garnet and Pearl embrace after their first fusion in so long can (and I think should) be paralleled to Ruby and Sapphire’s embrace when they reunite in “Jail Break”.
since “Cry for Help” happened so soon after “Keeping It Together” (just two episodes), it’s vital to take into account that fusing with Pearl–who’s one of Garnet’s oldest, dearest, and most trusted friends–definitely had a dimension of reclamation to it. Homeworld perverted fusion and instilled a great deal of guilt and turmoil in Garnet…so Garnet reclaims it for herself by choosing to share herself totally and completely with Pearl, in a way that they hadn’t done in such a long time, and reveling in the sheer joy of creating a completely different gem together. that’s what fusion means to Garnet; that’s why Garnet cherishes fusion so much.
that’s why the playful, happy way Garnet behaves before fusing with Pearl the second time is so bittersweet: Garnet actually succeeded in reclaiming fusion for herself, and her self-esteem + relationship with Pearl were flourishing because of it…
…which is why it’s so devastating when Garnet discovers that Pearl deceived her, that Pearl was using her to feel strong.
like I’ve stated before, Pearl’s reasons and mental/emotional state make her actions understandable–but they do not justify her actions, much less the harm they inflicted on Garnet.
Pearl violated Garnet’s boundaries and consent, disrespecting her, fusion, and Sardonyx–the embodiment of Garnet and Pearl’s relationship–in the process. and that, for a character who’s had such a difficult time opening up, reaching out for intimacy, and allowing herself to be weak or vulnerable…put her back in a dark, isolated place where the progress she’d made was put in jeopardy.
of course, the crewniverse did an excellent job with Garnet’s emotional arc during The Week of Sardonyx.
never once did Garnet feel like she needed to forgive Pearl before she was ready just because Pearl was sorry. Garnet’s justified anger and feelings of betrayal were given the time and respect they needed to settle. Ruby and Sapphire’s argument was resolved by achieving a happy medium between the impulses and reason they represented, resulting in Garnet telling Pearl not now instead of never or feeling pressured to forgive her immediately.
Garnet did not begin to forgive Pearl until Pearl not only apologized, but expressed an earnest desire to understand how she’d hurt Garnet and resolved to do better.
all of those facts are pretty dang revolutionary on their own, but here’s what really puts it over the top.
Garnet listens to and understands Pearl in her vulnerability and her weakness…
Pearl: No matter how hard I try to be strong like you…I’m just a pearl. I’m useless on my own. I need someone to tell me what to do. When we fuse, I can feel what it’s like to be you–confident, and secure, and complete. You’re perfect. You’re the perfect relationship. You’re always together. I just–I wanted to be a part of that.
…and Garnet is allowed the freedom and the respect to be weak, to be vulnerable–and to courageously own her weaknesses, insecurities, and vulnerabilities.
Garnet: You’re wrong! I’m not as strong as you think! I-I fell apart over this. Ruby and Sapphire were in turmoil over how you deceived me! I came undone! […] It’s not easy being in control. I have weaknesses too, but I choose not to let them consume me. I struggle to stay strong because I know the impact I have on everyone. Please understand, Pearl…you have an impact too. There are times when I look up to you for strength.
throughout her arc, Garnet’s moments of vulnerability have allowed her to grow closer to her loved ones and grow happier and more content for it. before The Week of Sardonyx, Garnet only ever allowed herself to be vulnerable to Steven…but by confiding her insecurities and weaknesses in Pearl so that Amethyst could hear her too, Garnet succeeded in getting through to Pearl in a way that she never had before. Garnet opened an avenue for a more equal, intimate, empathetic, understanding, and mutually supportive relationship with the both of them–by being vulnerable and honest.
Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven have a lot of work to do before their relationships have moved through their interpersonal dysfunction and improved to the extent that they’re all as healthy and positive as they can be. their work and progress is just beginning, because as Garnet herself has said:
…but I’m fairly certain that the Crystal Gems are on the right track, and that they’ll succeed…
…and that Garnet will be allowed the time to strike a balance between leader and friend, and to create the mutually supportive, equal, loving relationships with her loved ones that’ll be foundational to their becoming the best team they can be, and the best family they can be.
thanks for reading, and please take care to join me in paying a lot more attention to this amazing, complex, revolutionary character from now on–because goodness knows that Garnet more than deserves at least that much from us…!