Fridge pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned!

Fridge Logic goes on the Headscratchers page.

Fridge Brilliance

Varsity jackets are typically given out to students who were on sports teams, having earned it in some way as a reward. Steven's jacket shows how he earned his way to his position/where he is today, growing throughout the series and liberating Homeworld. Steven has earned his happily ever after; he earned his jacket.
- Another thing about the jacket: it's a pink jacket with white stripes, over a blue shirt with a yellow star. He's embraced the colors of all the Diamonds.
- Varsity Jackets also represent temporary periods in one's life. If you're the quarterback of a champion high school football team, you may feel like the king of the world, but it won't matter once you leave high school. Just like it represents Steven's triumph, his jacket is also a reminder that nothing truly lasts forever.
Look carefully at White Diamond; you'll notice that she has a bit of a tint from her pink color scheme on her formerly completely white and grey clothing. She's finally embraced her flaw.
During "Other Friends", Pearl, remembering Spinel, says, "She can't be serious!" Pearl could've been speaking literally since Spinel was made to be a playmate, a silly, fun-loving companion and couldn't, or shouldn't, actually be a serious being.
The Rejuvenator being in the form of a Sinister Scythe makes sense when you realize that scythes are associated with death, and using it on Gems resets them to their original state, which is basically death.
- Scythes are also known for cutting things down to the base. The Rejuvenator cuts the gems to their base forms.
- The other things scythes are associated with apart from death? Time. As it says right in the name, the Rejuvenator "makes them younger" in the sense that it resets their state to the time they first emerged, erasing any Character Development that happened in the meanwhile.
Pearl not recognizing Steven despite correctly identifying every other Gem present is a subtle hint that, after years of being mistaken for Rose and later Pink Diamond, Steven has finally grown into being his own kind of Gem and others are recognizing it.
Spinel briefly lashes out when Steven tries to get her to stay with the other Gems while he finds Amethyst. Turns out abandonment is a huge Berserk Button thanks to Pink Diamond leaving for thousands of years.
- And if you think a little longer, you'll realize that that moment was Spinel's first step to getting her memories back. Just like with Garnet, being abandoned by her best friend was only the first piece.
- Look closely at Spinel's face when she briefly freaks out: her eyelashes changes position from being over to under her eyes, resembling their state in her evil form.
What did the other Diamonds do after they discovered that Pink was treating her first Pearl like a playmate instead of a servant? Give her a new, more subservient Pearl and a playmate so she could keep "work" and "play" separate.
- This could also explain why Pink was so annoyed with Spinel. Friends are people you can both depend on to emotionally support you and make sure you behave like a better person, and the one thing Pink wanted was a friend she could be herself around. In "Now We're Only Falling Apart", we see that Pink was annoyed with Pearl when she only behaved like a servant when Pink tried to be casual with her. She had the opposite problem with Spinel, who lacked a limit on how much "entertainment" was necessary at certain times. "All work and no play" and "all play and no work" made both insufficient friends respectively until Pearl learned how to express some level of independence and was closer with Pink for it, something Spinel never got the chance to do.
Pearl's physical form being the "default setting" for Pearls gives even more reason she was able to hide on Earth without outing Rose as Pink Diamond. A Pearl customized to belong to Pink would stick out like a sore thumb (look at Pink Pearl), but since our Pearl was specifically not customized, it becomes harder to see who she was made for, and who she serves, at a glance.
- Look at her outfit when she regenerates — it contains all four colours of the Diamond Authority. A default, non-custom Pearl could potentially belong to anyone in any of the Diamonds' courts.
- A default, non-custom Pearl apparently automatically has her gemstone on her forehead and possesses white-colored skin. White Diamond, the leader of Homeworld, has white-colored skin and her gemstone on her forehead.
Spinel is the first villain to spot that Steven generally has an ulterior motive for his compassionate instincts. Unfortunately, that realization (and her history of abandonment) keep her from realizing that those instincts are nevertheless 100% genuine and sincere.
In a reversal of how they originally fused, instead of Ruby saving Sapphire, it’s Sapphire who saves Ruby. Keep in mind that Ruby was only created shortly before her assignment to protect Sapphire on her visit to Earth, while it's implied that Sapphire herself has been around for some time before the events of "The Answer". Being hit by the Rejuvenator wouldn't have set the both of them back to how they were in The Answer, only Ruby. Sapphire takes an initiative to try to alter the future because she has not yet been bogged down by seeing the more horrific events of the future go by unchanged.
- Sapphire's prediction that Ruby wouldn't last the day was right, as she spends the rest of it fused into Garnet.
- It's actually closer to what happened the first time than you might think. Remember: Ruby "only" saved Sapphire from getting poofed; it was Sapphire who saved Ruby from getting shattered.
- The reason Ruby doesn't budge despite having ample time to get out of the way while Steven is holding up the anvil could be because she, inherently, trusts Sapphire unconditionally, and believes trying to defy the future that Sapphire foresaw would be futile.
- Related to the above, Gems tend towards static. Originally, Sapphire thought her vision was absolute while Ruby thought her superior should stay on Earth so she could see the rest of it. After being 'rejuvenated', Ruby became enthusiastic upon learning of Sapphire's future vision and, without any reference to the contrary, trusted it. Sapphire however liked Ruby praising her future vision, and became distraught after realizing she would be shattered, and saved her.
Spinel being as powerful as she is seems odd for what amounts to a plaything for an elite... until you remember she was a Diamond's plaything and how powerful the Diamonds, even their weakest member, actually are. Much like how well made children's toys are made to be extremely tough to survive such play, Spinel may have been made as tough as she is for the same reason. Alternatively, Pearl states Spinel's "cut is perfect", which may imply that like Jasper she's abnormally powerful for her Gem type due to being "perfect".
- Especially since "Volleyball" would confirm that Pink Diamond possessed powerful destructive abilities, which she didn't always bother to control at the time she got Spinel.
- Said comment came up in what could only be described as a toy commercial being given by resetted Pearl, which given what Spinel was meant to be is eerily on point...
  - There's nothing eerie about it. Pearl and Spinel were gifted to Pink Diamond at the same time, to replace Pink Pearl. It's entirely likely that Pearl was factory set with that spiel about Spinel!
Jasper only making a small flashback cameo might seem odd considering she was one of the major villains, and one of the Gems we saw get uncorrupted... except for the fact most of the corrupted Gems were Crystal Gems, and would thus presumably want to stay on Earth since that was their plan pre-corruption. Jasper is a high-class Homeworld Gem and so probably went back home, since even if she made peace with Steven Earth likely has a lot of negative memories for her.
When you put a gag into context: Spinel enjoys the tickets coming out of the arcade machine because she had never seen anyone else "stretch" their "limbs" like she does.
- Later, when Steven and Spinel come back from the Garden, Garnet can be seen in the foreground, delightedly staring at a spork. It's a fusion, just like her.
- Also, Spinel didn't just make a Diamond sign, she made three Diamond signs... for three Diamonds.
- Not a gag, but during Pearl's song after rejuvenating Steven makes a very distressed face when Pearl put her hands in typical "I don't know" fashion while Amethyst copies her. He's seen them do it before; when White Diamond possessed them.
Out of the three main Crystal Gems, Steven has always been closest to Amethyst. It's only natural that he'd be able to snap her out of her rejuvenated self the fastest.
- Also she’s always been an open book so what her pieces are were pretty obvious and simple to figure out, unlike the compartmentalizing and secretive Pearl and The Stoic Garnet. And she's the youngest by millennia.
- Alternatively, Garnet being last of the main "three" to restore herself also makes sense even with the order that Steven was trying to get them back for the sake of restoring Spinel ASAP. While Amethyst and Pearl are single Gems, Garnet is not just her own person but the fusion of TWO Gems. Also, most of her "pieces" will have come in experiences had as Garnet. So not only is it a case of restoring the memories of two Gems rather than one, they have to be fused together as one being in order for the pieces to come back to her — Garnet was always going to have an extra level of complexity no matter what order Steven would have liked to restore them.
  - Adding to the complexity of Garnet’s restoration, she is the only Gem to be restored with two songs rather than one. Amethyst is restored with "No Matter What", Pearl is restored with "Independent Together", but Garnet is partially restored with "Isn't it Love?" and completely restored with "True Kinda Love". Arguably, you can also interpret this as "Isn't it Love" being a song about Garnet as Ruby and Sapphire, while "True Kinda Love" is a song about Garnet as one being.
- The Gems' memories are restored in the same order as Steven fused with them in "Change Your Mind" — first Amethyst, then Pearl, and finally Garnet.
The methods Steven uses to snap the Gems out of their rejuvenated state when they finally snap out of it corresponds to who each gem is at their core. Amethyst's is called "No Matter What", which defines how Steven and Amethyst always look out for one another like a brother and sister. Pearl's is "Independent Together", which defines how she's willing to be her own person, but still loyal to ones who encourage her to be independent. Garnet's is "The True Kind of Love", which defines her being made of love itself. Steven's song is "Change", which defines his being human and having the ability to change, unlike other gems. But what about Spinel? It's "Drift Away", a song that defines her feelings of abandonment. As she points out at the end of the movie, while the Crystal Gems changed for the better, she was defined by the worst moment in her life.
All of the Gems go through a single song each, in order to get their identity and memories back — except for Garnet, who goes through two songs, because she has two gems.
Stevonnie's song when they first fuse is an in-universe song called "Alone Together". What is Steg's song called? "Independent Together". He's also the one singing it.
Spinel seemed to love twirling the scythe-like Rejuvenator around while wielding it. But of course she was made to be a performer, an entertainer, so likely she has skills in various forms of entertainment such as baton-twirling.
Steg and Opal are both voiced by the two members of a real-life musical duo, The Both. As a result, it should be of little surprise that the two fusions have similar qualities as very tall four-armed individuals.
Real spinels have historically been used as substitutes for other gems, particularly rubies and diamonds. It's no wonder that the Diamonds accept her as a replacement for Pink.
Steg being so huge, muscular, and handsome makes a lot of sense when you remember Steven and Greg as father and son have always brought out the best in each other, as a good family should. That's their bond Steg embodies, so him being such makes a lot of sense. Him having more Gem traits, such as four arms compared to the completely human looking Stevonnie also makes sense as Greg has always embraced and encouraged Steven's Gem half.
- Steg's buff body also seems to be inspired by the "Guitar Dad" posters Steven made in "Shirt Club", which featured a muscular version of Greg with an eight-pack.
- Steg's age looks somewhere between Greg (who is middle-aged) and Steven (a teenager).
- Also, comparing Steg to Stevonnie in reference to human/Gem-ness, while Greg is slightly distant from Steven in that he doesn't live with Steven but is still incredibly close, Connie actively connects with Steven whenever they meet (sharing feelings, talking about common interests). So it seems Steven/Connie might be just a little bit more 'human' than Steven/Greg.
Garnet, as a rule, never asks questions; after her first re-fusion after Ruby and Sapphire are Rejuvenated, until getting her memories back, she speaks in nothing but questions!
- Even her debut song — "Isn't It Love?" — is a question.
- "Garnet would know what to do." She doesn’t, because she's not Garnet at the time, as a fusion or as a person.
It's notable that not Pearl nor Garnet (by extension Ruby and Sapphire) look down on fusion in their rejuvenated state, for example, Garnet doesn't seem to be afraid of herself (in fact, she seems genuinely happy as herself) when she first re-fuses. Well, without Homeworld's influence, it makes sense that they wouldn't look at fusion as anything other than something that just happens. This even applies to Spinel as she is seen happily jumping up and down with Garnet during the concert.
- Could also double as Heartwarming: back when Ruby and Sapphire first fused, they broke apart after just a few seconds. But Cotton Candy Garnet stays fused all the way until she gets her memories back, because she's surrounded by people who don't see anything wrong with her. Later on she even gets to witness two other fusions being celebrated at a concert. Really, it's the "first time being herself" that Garnet should have been allowed.
It might seem strange that Spinel managed to get a hold of an injector and Rejuvenator, until you remember the start of the movie: the Gem armies who would've been using them are disbanded, and, as far as anyone can tell, there's peace across the galaxy thanks to Steven. Weapons like those are probably sitting in the Gem equivalent of a warehouse somewhere; they might not even be guarded because they don't think there's anyone out there who would want to steal them. If so, let's hope there aren't any dissidents who don't like the new status quo...
- It was probably old tech abandoned in one of the partially destroyed moons near the garden. Peridot had no idea what the Rejuvenator was, but Bismuth recognized it immediately.
Garnet's last missing piece being 'truth' makes tons of sense looking at earlier episodes, as well as more recent ones. Sapphire and Padparascha have been shown to have extra-sensory awareness when it comes to their visions. She can see a lot of things. But one of the things she couldn't see were secrets: truths hidden from her. They were what caused Ruby and Sapphire so much distress Garnet unfused. Twice. These secrets were kept because they (Pearl and Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond)did not want to face them. But when discovered, it was love that brought them and their friends back together, on both occasions. It's not hard to see how Garnet believes that it's better to face the truth together than suffer alone, because love can give you the strength you need to confront it.
Yellow Diamond's comment about 6,000 years being nothing adds another factor into Pink's actions: while Gems, in general, have a skewed perception of time compared to humans, the Diamonds seem to have it to an even more drastic extent. It's entirely possible that, innocently selfish as she was at the time, Pink may genuinely have perceived the time it'd take to colonize Earth as not being very long at all since from her perception it wouldn't be.
It makes sense that Steg's appearance is when rejuvenated-Spinel begins to hit her breaking point again, when you consider the trigger for her snapping the first time. The reason Steven and Greg fused was to get through to the rejuvenated-Pearl by having Greg cease to "exist", which means Steven also ceases to "exist". Spinel is bonded to Steven at this point just as Pearl is to Greg, and both Pearl and Spinel cry the names of the person they're bonded to when the two fuse into 'Steg'. Steven has ceased to exist in that moment, just as Pink Diamond had ceased to exist — and this was probably one of the "pieces" for Spinel to regain her own memories.
Of course neither Pink/Rose nor Pearl would have told the other Crystal Gems about Spinel: Pink/Rose was under a Secret Identity and eventually decided to abandon her status as a Diamond for good, intending to never tell the others. That would naturally include anything about Pink Diamond's playmate Spinel, if she didn't forget her, and if she didn't forget her she may not have realized how rigidly Spinel would follow her order to stay in the garden and assumed that she'd long since given up on the game and left. Pearl was under a geas not to reveal Rose's true identity, which included details of her life as Pink's Pearl, and quite probably forgot about Spinel, or at least put her out of her mind.
- Also, to Pink, Spinel was more like a toy to play with and less than an equal. More so, Spinel was a toy that Pink felt she had outgrown. Pink had no issue leaving Spinel behind as she moved on to better toys, ie the Earth.
One would think that something like the Rejuvenator would be super-handy when faced with a rebellion like the one on Earth, but you have to consider four things:
1. Pink Diamond was the one who was "fighting" the rebellion, and since she had every intention of "losing" that fight, she would make sure that her armies loyal to Homeworld would have as little of an advantage as possible. When Pink was "shattered", the other Diamonds would be too full of rage to allow the gems that had orchestrated her "death" to use Rejuvenators on them and allow them back on Homeworld and would rather just destroy them.
2. It only took a day for Steven to give his amnesiac friends their identities back (and Garnet's memories returned by accident). Considering 6,000 years are not considered very long by the Diamonds' standards, such a short time-span would consider it a failure.
3. Since anything could potentially trigger this relapse at any time, an indescribable number of unknown variables would turn a device like the Rejuvenator from "useless in the long-term" to "massive security risk". Shattering them looks like the more efficient way of dealing with traitors and off-color behavior in their ranks by comparison.
4. Another factor is that, as demonstrated when Spinel uses it on Steven, rejuvenators are clearly capable of affecting even the most powerful of Gems. It's pretty likely that once that was discovered, the Diamonds figured it was better to not have them around.
There is probably a reason why it was able to affect Steven. It doesnt make much sense to have weapons capable of resetting the most powerful gems in the empire and mass produce them. This one was made specifically for Pink Diamond to manage her court. It's why it was able to cut through Steven's shield effortlessly (which had at one point blocked much stronger attacks from the diamonds). Due to it being made for a Diamond it is more powerful than conventional ones and able to affect those gems equal to or lower in power.
At first glance, it seems like the movie breaks away from the series' central theme of love, but the film follows the theme just as much. Amethyst is awakened by sibling love. Pearl is awakened by platonic and self love. Garnet seems like she'll be awakened by the romantic love she's made of, but it's remembering what love is at its core that really restored her (as well as parental love and her desire to protect Steven). Even Steven is awakened by embracing his ability to change, which is effectively self-love. Spinel is awakened by remembering the loss of her only source of platonic love, and is redeemed by learning she can love again.
Spinel's character design resembles a 1920s cartoon to reflect that she is a product of the past, created for Pink Diamond several millennia ago.
As many have pointed out, Spinel's original "happy" design very strongly resembles Mickey Mouse (her hairline is even the exact same as his), while her "evil" design resembles Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the "unlucky" cartoon character that came before Mickey and has since been overshadowed and forgotten because of him. Many shots of "evil" Spinel even has her pigtails be expressive, resembling a cartoon rabbit's ears.
As pointed out in this Tumblr post, the blue flowers in Pink's Garden look like myosottises, which are also known as forget-me-nots. Coincidentally, myosotis also means "mouse's ear", thus emphasizing the comparison between Spinel's original appearance and Mickey Mouse.
- Not only that, but as Pink leaves, the forget-me-nots are only on Spinel’s side of the screen. On Pink’s side? Red spider lilies, which in Korea ^note symbolize final goodbyes.
"True Kinda Love" is a direct counterpart to "Stronger Than You". In the latter, Garnet pretty much gives Jasper a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, which is entirely deserved, considering how Jasper turned out to be an unapologetic psychopath. In the former, Garnet comes across as somewhat encouraging and understanding, she knows that Spinel is actually a good person who copes with her situation by lashing out. It's a "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight mixed with You Are Better Than You Think You Are.
Spinel remarks that being stranded for 6,000 years was "nothing" and that she could have done it standing on her hand (before she does a headstand). Yellow Diamond reacts by bursting out laughing, heartily doing so like its the funniest thing she's ever seen. While this might just be a one-off joke — the idea that the most serious tough-as-nails "stick in the mud" of the Diamonds would be so easily amused by a simple joke — bear in mind that Spinel's creation was commissioned specifically by the Diamonds to be Pink's playmate, so it is likely that Spinel's sense of humor was carefully tailored to what the Diamonds would find humorous in order to fulfill her purpose.
Pink's initial role among the Diamonds was to be their emotional center — she would make them happy and love them unconditionally, and they would smother her with affection in return. But the other Diamonds took her for granted and never took her seriously, causing a schism that lead to leave them. When Steven came, the other Diamonds saw it as their second chance to make up for abandoning Pink by treating Steven like they should have been treating Pink — but Steven finds their attention stifling and wants to be able to live a normal life on Earth. Neither Pink nor Steven wanted to spend the rest of their existence being babied and playing with the other Diamonds. But for someone like Spinel, who's only ever wanted attention and to make others happy, that role is perfect.
There's a reason (not excuse) for why Pink Diamond grew bored with and abandoned Spinel. Pink adored the concept of change and growth, so much that she surrounded herself with living plants and flowers in her space garden. From her perspective, Spinel was incapable of changing, always remaining the same perpetually happy, fun-loving and goofy gem she was created to be. Pink abandoned Spinel because she wanted to distance herself from what she stood for, lack of change. This serves to make Steven the bigger Gem because he believed Spinel could change herself.
- Not to mention, Spinel, enthusiastic and happy as she was, was exactly what the other Diamonds thought of Pink - that is, exactly the "easily amused, clingy, incapable of being serious and by extension cannot be taken seriously" Womanchild Pink hated being seen as, and her reaction to this (abandoning Spinel) is proof that though Pink wanted to be more mature and be seen as such too, she had to put in the work to develop in that direction.
At first, it seems uncharacteristic of Pink Diamond to do something as horrible as abandon Spinel on the petty basis that she was growing bored with her. But then, bear in mind the episode "We Need to Talk". Remember when Pearl told Greg he was "just another phase"? This should've been a clue that back then, Pink was no stranger to growing bored with someone or seeing them as a novelty rather than a person. (Greg was fortunate to have spoken up and voiced how seriously he took their relationship before it was too late.)
Spinel has a point when she points out how Steven(and/or Pink Diamond) was "protective of [their] real friends and so careless with [their] fake ones". On one hand, Pink Diamond never saw Spinel as anything more than a playmate, and once she left her in the garden, she apparently never gave her another thought. In contrast, as Rose Quartz, she had the good conscience to worry about leaving the newly-fused Garnet behind at the mercy of Blue Diamond.
It seems that gemstone rotation affects a Gem's identity, given that Spinel rotates her gem upside down to emphasize her currently insane self, similar to how Rose was made. Not unlike fusion, rotation is more on embracing the Gem's disguise to the point where the current identities wouldn't recognize who they used to be. Unfortunately, it doesn't affect their personality because it's all just an alter-ego. Despite how much Pink is willing to regard herself only as Rose after destroying her old self, her character flaws have slipped up from time to time, similar to how Spinel retains her desire to be what she's made for despite slipping into complete insanity.
At first Spinel's plan didn't make sense. You'd think she was faking getting her memory wiped at first and was gonna do a big reveal that it was All According to Plan. But she was actually affected by it, so you get was caught wondering what exactly was her plan here. She was intelligent enough to get two powerful weapons and beat the Crystal Gems but not smart enough to make a plan B in case it goes wrong? However, then you realize that it wasn't a smart or reasonable plan, it was all a huge suicide mission she went on hoping to go down with everything Pink knew and loved. All that mattered was that she got the Injector in.
- Even moreso, Spinel's plan might've actually been to put things back to the way they used to be, while simultaniously removing and resetting all the obstacles that made Pink leave. Once her plan would be done, all that would be left is Spinel, Pink, the reset Crystal Gems, and a dead Earth. Spinel getting hit by the Rejuvenator would've been seen as a bonus, since she feels she would be better off blissfully unaware as the rest of them.
When Spinel rejuvenates, how come she immediately recognizes Steven as her subject of service to? Right before this, it's shown that Pearl chooses Greg because he answered her automated question first, while Steven doesn't say anything to Spinel's gem other than telling the others to "Get back!" Either Spinel could sense that Steven is the (former) Pink Diamond, or a darker explanation is that she had a memory of him before being poofed and assumed he was her choice of servitude, instead of remembering the actual reason she recognizes him.
- It's much simpler than that: When Steven said "Get back!" every one else stepped back, making Steven the first person Spinel saw — just as Greg was the first person Pearl saw.
For the finale, the main characters pay homage to the Takarazuka Revue with the Grand Staircase and finale feathers at their backs. In Zuka productions, during the finale, the top star ^notethe otokoyaku, male role actress, that leads the troupe is typically the only one to wear feathers. Some productions also put feathers on the top musumeyaku (leading female role actress) and the nibante (second to the top star), but they tend to be identical to the top star's. There are five Steven Universe characters onstage, and there are five Takarazuka troupes. Both the characters and the troupes have their signature colors. This isn't a "one main character and their supporting cast" or "one top star and the rest of her troupe" scenario, this is a special performance where five top stars — heroes of their own stories — came together.
- Zuka also has senka ("professional") actresses who are not permanently assigned to any one troupe. They tend to be older, seasoned performers, who have already spent a long time of their career as troupe members. It's considered difficult for a show to be done without the participation of any senka actresses, though not impossible. The cast of Steven Universe has Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, Broadway divas in their own right, and the closest the English-speaking theatre world gets to senka actresses.
- Gems are genderless but manifest as female-presenting humanoids using she/her pronouns. Takarazuka performers are assigned female at birth but can play roles of other genders. Some actresses have gone from otokoyaku (playing men) to musumeyaku (playing women), and vice versa (Manaki Reika did this). It can be done occasionally without switching categories: Miya Rurika, for example, played a woman (Morgane from Le Roi Arthur) and a nonbinary character (Sweetheart from Baddy) during her tenure as an otokoyaku.
Many commenters admit to finding evil Spinel more tolerable than reset Spinel. This is probably the same way Pink Diamond started to feel about her. For all fans do have issues with Pink's actions, they clearly are more alike that they'd probably admit, like preferring Rose Quartz over Pink Diamond.
The lyrics of "Disobedient" could easily apply to Spinel:
I think about that wasted time I've spent
I wanna be disobedient.

I've been good sir, so very, very good, for what?
And I've given you every single thing I've got
It's feeling strange, man, this whole arrangement
Is gonna end with me totally deranged.
Spinel attacks Pearl first in "Other Friends" and toys with her before moving onto Amethyst and Garnet. Why? Well, she commented that Pink Diamond took her second Pearl, but not Spinel. It's Personal came into play.
- Interestingly, she doesn't toy with Steven in the same way during the fight. Subconsciously, Spinel knew that Steven wasn't to blame for his mother's actions. It foreshadows her Heel Realization when he sings to her in the climax, since Steven genuinely wants to be her friend.
  - Except that she does: she kicks Steven in the face twice, the first time just for talking. This, however, has it's own brand of Fridge Brilliance. While she targets the Crystal Gems seemingly equally, she seems to focus her actual violent intent on Steven, who, as far as she is concerned, is Pink Diamond.
After everyone's hit with the Rejuvenator and subsequently regenerates, neither Sapphire nor Amethyst imprint on anyone in particular, and both Pearl and Ruby imprint with a particular prompt (Greg gives his name when prompted, and Ruby is told that she's meant to guard Sapphire). Spinel, meanwhile, immediately goes for Steven, before she even fully regenerates. Why? Unlike the others, who were designed to be able to serve whomever based on the situation, Spinel was designed specifically to be Pink Diamond's playmate. Because Gems can shapeshift, it makes sense that anything meant to attach to a specific Gem would be looking for that Gem's gemstone, not its projected body. So Spinel immediately went for the one now bearing Pink Diamond's Gem.
The fact that Steven's "missing piece" was his ability to change makes total sense- believing that he’d finally reached his “happily ever after”, Steven grew complacent and comfortable with nothing changing, causing him to stagnate and forget that change is a part of life!
- In addition, Pink repeatedly mentioned in tapes and flashbacks that the thing she most envied about humanity was their power to change and mature, and she created Steven and sacrificed herself in order to create someone capable of being whoever they wanted. The power to change is specifically what makes Steven Steven, separating him from Pink Diamond.
"Isn't it Love?" is about how Ruby and Sapphire are complete opposites, yet they still love each other very much. But at that time, since they had been 'rejuvenated', they couldn't understand their feelings for each other, which leads to the question: 'isn't it love?'
- 'Suddenly a genius and suddenly a fool' can apply to both Ruby and Sapphire. Sapphire has great knowledge thanks to her future vision, but her fatalistic view of the future prevents her from doing anything. Ruby may not know much, but she had enough common sense to know Sapphire could have just dodged Pearl's attack in Garnet's story from "The Answer".
  - And as mentioned earlier, Ruby has ample time to move from under the anvil, but trusts Sapphire's future vision too much. Then Sapphire swoops in to save her, risking shattering herself as well.
  - She was also the one to save Ruby from being shattered in "The Answer". Ruby was being rational while Sapphire was the foolish one for saving her, which Ruby scolded her for since, in her own words:
Ruby: Who cares about me!? There's tons of me!
- Garnet was 'stranger than fiction' at least when she was first formed because it was the first time anyone in Blue Diamond's court has seen a fusion between to different types of Gems.
- The 'walking contradiction' comes from not only herself, but the distinction between 'original' and 'rejuvenated' Garnet. She's back because Garnet is reformed, but she's new from Ruby and Sapphire's perspective.
  - She was also a walking contradiction to Homeworld's views on multiple-gem fusion when she was first formed.
Spinel is elastic, going from happy-go-lucky to Ax-Crazy in a flash, and flexible, stretching herself thin waiting for Pink. But all elastic things have a limit and when she found out Pink was gone, she 'snapped'. However, after being rejuvenated, she was once again whole. This is meant symbolically that she can love again, even if her memories returning would make her feel broken.
From what we see of Spinel's past, she has always been in "play" mode - constantly happy, silly and uninhibited and no inclination to take anything seriously. While this seems to be her natural personality while she's happy, it's entirely possible that this is Spinel's first time expressing and acknowledging anger - which explains why her mood is so unpredictable at times. Naturally, someone with no cause to experience anger will have very little self-control.
- This could also be comparable to Pearl breaking out of her slavish mindset. Once she realises she can be more than "just a pearl" she starts to experience feelings of inferiority that none of the other pearls have ever had cause to experience before (note Yellow Pearl's taking it for granted that "my feelings are irrelevant").
It is commonly theorized that Spinel is unique. But if that were the case, then how could a Rejuvenated Pearl have known what she was? Simple: This particular Rejuvenated Pearl was gifted to Pink Diamond at the same time as Spinel! She was probably factory set with the knowledge of who and what Spinel was, to save the Diamonds a briefing.
Aside from denial and lack of understanding, the existence of the Rejuvenator somewhat explains Blue, Yellow and White's insistence in the previous season that Steven is just Pink without her memories. They know tools can be used to reset a Gem's memories of her existence and likely assumed something similar was at play at the time, hence Yellow's line of "I'm sure your memories are still in there somewhere.", with the amnesia, different form and exposure to the Crystal Gems being a perfect excuse to handwave Steven's actions as a mistake of Pink's and an excuse to go back to the way things were. It's not until "Change Your Mind" that Pink Steven reforming as himself destroys that possibility.

Fridge Horror

Spinel's villainous character design is cool and all, but Gems usually take on a new permanent form by regenerating. Spinel was left completely alone for 6,000 years, so the only one who could have poofed her was... herself. Which means she must have essentially tried to commit suicide after hearing the Diamonds' message.
- On that note, Spinel couldn’t have poofed herself with the Rejuvenator, since it would have been impossible for her to have done so without losing her memories (and since Word of God states it wasn’t originally hers and that she took it from Pink’s resource location, wouldn’t have had it with her in the first place). Also considering there probably wasn’t anything potentially dangerous in the garden she could have used to poof herself with (besides maybe a large boulder or one of the pillars), there’s a good chance she poofed herself by pulling her gem out. Other gems have already been shown in the past to be capable of doing this, so nothing could have stopped Spinel from doing the same.
  - Fridge Brilliance sets back in when you realize that's exactly what Pink did to her by abandoning her, she ripped her heart out.
- Word of God clarifying that emotional shock can also cause a gem to poof, and that was the intent of this case, doesn't exactly make this much better. Realizing what Pink Diamond did to her caused Spinel to have a Gem equivalent of a heart attack. No wonder she changed so drastically after physically recovering from that all by herself.
  - And then when Spinel again reverts from her old form to her new one at the end of "Drift Away." If the emotional shock was the cause of the first change as implied, Steven essentially just watched Spinel die of a broken heart (for the second time in a matter of hours) from reliving that memory.
Considering the above, Spinel’s attack on the Crystal Gems doesn’t seem like it’s only her lashing out or being a distraction from the Injector. After she poofs the gems and tries to poof Steven with the Rejuvenator, Steven ends up slicing Spinel with it and poofing her instead. However, the laugh and the face she pulls when it happens and the fact she seems okay with getting reset may imply she let him take it and hit her on purpose. Taking her tragic backstory into account, it doesn’t seem too unlikely that she, by attacking Steven and the Crystal Gems, is trying to set up a Suicide by Crystal Gem situation where she knows of two outcomes: Either she poofs after being hit with the Rejuvenator and comes back with her memories erased so she can live a new life and forget the pain of being abandoned by her best friend and spending 6,000 years alone, or she’ll be shattered after she poofs and will go down along with Earth and everything else. Regardless of interpretation, the fight resembles a Suicide Mission to some degree.
Amethyst's behavior after being hit by the Rejuvenator fills in a few of the blanks about her first meeting with Rose, Garnet, and Pearl. Considering she emerged as a Blank Slate who repeated and mimicked what was said and done in front of her unlike the others who were hit by the Rejuvenator, it’s implied that she wasn’t just physically defective, but mentally defective as well. The gems apparently took in what was essentially a feral child and had to teach her how to talk and behave.
- If Amethyst did emerge in this same blank slate, then she was extremely lucky to have emerged way after the war between Homeworld and the Crystal Gems was over, for had she emerged this way prior to the war, Homeworld's treatment of her would have been pretty harsh, to say the least.
- “We kept Amethyst.”
- It gets worse. Spinel was energetic, playful, childish and prone to shape-shifting. Amethyst is also energetic, playful, childish and prone to shapeshifting. Who's to say Amethyst wasn't Rose's Replacement Goldfish for Spinel?
Given the apparent timeframe of the movie, Spinel came up with her plan, somehow obtained the Rejuvenator and the Injector, and came to Earth seeking revenge in a matter of hours.
Pearls are revealed to have customization options to make them align more with their owner's appearance, like personalization. While it's unclear if our Pearl's appearance is the default for all Pearls, her un-altered design is notably the same as her past look in "Now We're Only Falling Apart", back before Pink Diamond first visited Earth. It seems odd that she'd be unchanged, given the status of her owner, until you remember that our Pearl is the second one Pink Diamond owned. Pink's former Pearl — who does resemble her Diamond — was taken from her and subjected to... something as punishment for getting too friendly with her charge. Pink likely left Pearl un-altered to prevent herself from growing too attached, in case she stepped out of line with her elder siblings and lost her Replacement Goldfish like she did the last one.
As bad as Pink Diamond abandoning Spinel is, it's entirely understandable — she did this before getting her colony, which means entirely before her character development kicked in. To Pink Diamond when she left her behind, Spinel was a toy she'd grown tired of and put on the shelf — that's how the Diamonds treated ALL Gems, useful until they aren't, and to be abandoned when that happens. And, of course, once she DID start seeing all Gems and all life as precious and unique, Pink had no opportunity to rectify her mistake, as she had much bigger things to deal with — dealing with the rebellion and the fate of the Earth and the Crystal Gems was far more pressing than returning to a single Gem she'd left behind before, assuming she even could potentially slip away and return for her. Then the Galaxy Warp is destroyed and she's trapped on Earth, unable to do anything about Spinel even if she wanted to. Spinel was, effectively, doomed from the start.
- It could be possible that Pink Diamond had to leave Spinel behind because she wasn't allowed to have her accompany her to Earth because she was for playing, not business. Makes complete sense that it's basically taking a toy from home to work, which would be unprofessional. If Pink returned to Homeworld without completing the colony, Yellow and Blue would take over her job and finish it themselves, like an employee being fired for leaving work early, especially if it's important.
The fact that Gems have a substance that can kill organic life on a planet without necessarily creating new Gems from it. What exactly do they use it for if they're not going to drain colonized planets of their life by creating Gems?
- Two possible reasons, either the Gems have declared the planet to be high in other resources that can be used in construction/energy or is in a strategic place and need a quick way to get rid of all pecky organics. Or even worse, that planets' beings have achieved space travel and the diamonds now see them as a threat needing to be wiped out.
The only reason Spinel finally broke and moved from that spot in the garden? Not news of the rebellion. Not news of Pink’s supposed shattering. Not “her” return to Homeworld. Only when Steven announces his return to Earth. Meaning if Steven’s message hadn’t reached the garden, Spinel would have stayed there waiting until THE END OF TIME.
In a way, all of the Diamonds had a hand in Spinel's abandonment — if they hadn't been so intent on forgetting about Pink and destroying or abandoning everything that was hers, someone might have visited the garden sooner and released Spinel with news of the shattering. On the other hand, considering Spinel's Undying Loyalty to Pink, she could have very well had the same Face–Heel Turn upon hearing that her Diamond was dead. Considering she mops the floor with the Crystal Gems when she first arrives, she could have been a very effective weapon if used by Homeworld, and she'd have every reason to want to exact vengance on Earth.
One has to wonder how many times the Rejuvenator's been used on Gems that step out of line, including the ones we're familiar with (who’s to say this is the first time it's been used on any of the Crystal Gems, for starters).
It's unlikely that Spinel's situation is unique. There could be thousands of Gems around the universe, stuck with following long-forgotten, meaningless orders in desolate nothingness, presumed dead or disappeared by their peers and superiors.
During "Other Friends", Spinel acts darkly amused through the first half of the song, and seems to be toying with the Gems rather than actively trying to kill them. It's when Steven asks Pearl who she is that she gets royally pissed and pulls out the Rejuvenator. Analyzing her dialogue and the lyrics of the song imply that Spinel assumes that the Gems already know who she is, and Steven's question is what clues her into the realization that Pink Diamond not only didn't tell the other Gems what happened to her, but she didn't tell them about her to begin with, which only makes her even angrier than she was before.
Spinel: Who am I?/WHO AM I?!/What are you even saying?/I'm the loser of the game you didn't know you were playing!
More Fridge Tearjerker than anything else, but Jasper literally was born into war. Now there's no more wars or conquering for Homeworld. Poor girl probably has a lot to think about.
When the Diamonds are trying to convince Steven to stay with them they bring up everything they've done that he has asked them to do. This may be brushed off as them still trying to shake off their bad habits but remember with Pink that their love tended to be conditional. They're likely falling back on old instincts, only this time they're trying to gain and keep love instead of offering it so they are doing whatever they can to try and keep things how they want.
Considering the strong implication that Spinel was created for Pink Diamond after Pink Pearl got mind-controlled by White Diamond, this very likely means that Spinel not only waited in one place in the garden for an extremely long time, she's been waiting there for most of her life, too!
- It also possibly explains why Pink was so uncomfortable with Spinel. Pink had already had a best friend, one who supported her through her emotional struggles with her abusive family. It wasn't a perfect friendship, but it was genuine; both were willing to flout orders and norms commanded by that abusive family for each other, even though their casual friendship was heavily discouraged. Then Pink screwed up, lashed out, and hurt Pink Pearl... and even though she was sorry, even though Pink Pearl forgave her, even though they were on their way to working through things, the other Diamonds used it as an excuse to steal and replace Pink Pearl with individuals who would manage Pink within the roles they designated; one to assist Pink and another to keep her entertained and complacent. Pearl and Spinel were living, talking symbols of the other Diamonds' abusive control over Pink. And while Pearl could prove her trustworthiness through her willingness to subvert the submissive servant role the other Diamonds gave her for the sake of her relationship with Pink, how could Spinel do that when being Pink's friend was her Diamonds-given role, when she existed to placate Pink for them? Poor Spinel's relationship with Pink was stuck on the wrong foot from the beginning. What Pink did to Spinel is still absolutely thoughtlessly cruel and inexcusable, but this explains a lot about why Pink constantly looks so uncomfortable with Spinel and why she didn't trust Spinel the way she came to trust Pearl.
In "Your Mother and Mine", Garnet states that Pink Diamond rebuffed Rose Quartz's pleas to spare Earth, laughed in her face, and sent her back to her post. Though this was part of a story that turned out to be fake, how did Pink Diamond abandon Spinel? She rebuffed Spinel's pleas to let her come with Pink, laughed in her face ("the sound of her laughter"), and made her stand still. Was Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz's fake story to Garnet based off of what happened between her and Spinel?
"Now that I know you, I wanna kill you even more." That line seems uncalled for at first, considering that Steven has been nothing but kind and understanding to Spinel, if a little irritated. But then again, she did think he was going to double-cross her...
Spinel seems to have symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. Serious abandonment issues, explosive anger◊, intense mood swings◊, shifting sense of self◊, self-destructive behavior◊, self harm◊, unstable relationships◊, feelings of constant emptiness...◊ What is usually the cause of that? A past of neglect and abuse.
Although it doesn't excuse what she did, if we assume that Spinel was made to replace Pink's original Pearl, it makes sense that she wouldn't be that huge a fan of our Pearl.
All this talk about Spinel being "Pink Diamond's playmate" makes us think. Where did Pink Diamond learn that "let's play a game" trick? Probably from the other Diamonds. Worse: Diamonds aren't programmed to follow orders, no matter what White thinks (both Yellow and Blue are easily swayed by Steven's rhetoric — almost shockingly quickly for a Gem). Pink probably genuinely thought Spinel would break the order she inadvertently gave her, because that is exactly what Pink would have done when she got bored.
- It's actually worse than that, Pink didn't order Spinel to stay in the Garden, she framed it as a game. Spinel could have moved or left at any time, but she didn't because she trusted Pink. When the Diamonds blew Pink off Pink understood what was happening, but Spinel did not, she trusted her Diamond, trusted her best friend and she played a 6,000-year-long waiting game out of that trust only to learn that trust had been misplaced and she'd been abandoned and forgotten.
As Rebecca Sugar states that Gems can poof when exposed to emotional overload, given that it happened to Spinel, imagine What Could Have Been if it happened to Rose. Picture her rebellion having failed and the Crystal Gems punished while she is imprisoned, helpless to prevent the Diamonds from completing the colonization of Earth as she waits until her planet's completely dead. Rose would've turned into a darker version of herself to enact vengeance against Homeworld.
Spinel introduces herself to Steven as "The loser of the game you didn't know you were playing". It's not a metaphor — she's referring to Pink Diamond's 6000-year-long waiting game.
- A blink-and-you-miss-it scene, when Steven's message of peace is being broadcast, there is one shot amongst ruined pillars. One of those pillars is Spinel's leg! We actually see Spinel receiving Steven's message of peace in the upbeat prologue.
So where was Jasper during the events of the movie? Was she simply looking for fights while the world was ending, because the end of Era 2 had robbed her of purpose? And what if she had encountered Spinel? Would they have fought against each other or would Spinel have made Jasper into her bodyguard? Would Jasper theoretically be willing to go as far as to doom the entire world just so she could fight Spinel? Would Spinel and Jasper have bonded over their ties to Pink Diamond and become a Big Bad Duumvirate or would Jasper become an Evil Mentor to Spinel, similar to what she did to Steven in Steven Universe: Future? There are many possibilities and a good chunk of them probably would've ended badly for Steven and the Crystal Gems.

Fridge / Steven Universe: The Movie

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Fridge Brilliance

Fridge Horror