I think the idea that all of the eyewitnesses were lying is a stretch. It seems more likely that they were merely mistaken.
Oh God! Natural light!Which is why I like the "Pearl shapeshifted into Rose" theory. You don't need to be an idiot to mistake a shapeshifted Pearl for Rose, even if Eyeball was one. Her hair is a pink orangey color , her skin is pale, and she can hide her hair using the bangs of her shapeshifted hair. The only give away would be that her Gem would be white, rather than pink, which requires a very specific angle even to notice.
(Narratively it also works. Rose was almost certainly in on the plan, it doesn't absolve the heroes of PD's death, and Pearl explicitly can't tell Steven what happened, even if it's clear she wants to. There's a real reason to pretend Rose did it, as Rose knows what happened to the other Rose Quartzes after her rebellion, and doesn't want the Pearls to suffer the same fate, or even worse.)
The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing.The issue with the "it was Pearl disguised as Rose" to me is, if they're still going to have the blame pinned on Rose, then why not just have Rose do it herself? That seems like a very glaring issue, and it's only fixed if Rose wasn't in on the plan. But by fixing that you basically take away one of the most interesting things about Rose's character, and create another issue with why Pearl would do something that would get Rose marked even more than she already was.
It's just unsatisfying for me on multiple levels even assuming they could do that in a way that makes sense to me. And I'm not even sure they could do that.
edited 9th Jan '18 1:30:47 PM by LSBK
There's not really any good reason for Pearl to disguise herself either. Even if she's Pink's Pearl and could get close to her that last detail about shape-shifting into Rose is really random.
Shape-shifting makes more sense if it's someone who wanted to frame Rose. That theory might make more sense if Pink Diamond's Pearl that Zircon accused is her own character.
edited 9th Jan '18 2:05:14 PM by xanderiskander
Also, a bit weird that Steven hasn't brought up that Homeworld is apparently unsure of what happened. Even if he still thinks that Rose did it, you'd think he'd ask for clarification about a few things. I know this is Steven Universe and they often have Steven conspicuously not asking questions he should be, but I kind of thought they were past that.
I suspect she was 'deeply conflicted' about breaking her 'no shattering gems code' to the point where if she hesitated she could have been captured/shattered and the rebellion would have been in trouble,so it was too risky for Rose to actually carry it out,and the same time if Pearl was seen killing Pink there might be repercussions for other Pearls,so shapeshifting as Rose means they'll have no other gem to blame but the Rose gems who have already been bubbled
They probably carried out the attack after consulting Sapphire's future vision too
have a listen and have a link to my discord serverThat's still deeply unsatisfying.
Also, Eyeball specifically mentioned seeing a Rose Quartz gem, as in her actual gem, did she not? There's no facking that with shapeshifting. So either Eyeball is lying (doubtful), or there was another Rose Quartz there confusing things even more.
edited 9th Jan '18 2:22:06 PM by LSBK
@MiniRecaps: I like that they're candid enough to admit when a plot point started as an image/drawing that they wrote their way to.
Lars being a space pirate? That started as a drawing Rebecca Sugar drew over four years ago—which itself was inspired by a pre-Steven Universe comic she made, where Lars has a cameo as a background character in a space bar.
Most likely all anyone saw was Rose Quartz standing over the shattered remains of Pink Diamond, sword in hand.
And if Rose wasn't the real culprit, she was probably standing there not moving because she was still in shock over what had happened.
One possible idea? Rose was just talking to Pink Diamond (albeit with sword in hand as a precaution) in one last ditch attempt at peace negotiations. Pearl stabbed Pink Diamond in the back because she saw (or thought she saw) Pink Diamond getting ready to sneak attack Rose during their talk. After the shock wore off, Rose then ordered Pearl to keep quiet and let her take the blame for what had happened.
The problem with this idea of course is that Pearl's weapon probably isn't powerful enough to pull that off.
Or maybe it really was one of the Diamonds taking advantage of the moment to get rid of Pink Diamond.
edited 9th Jan '18 7:26:03 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedGood episodes.
The big clincher was talking with my friend, who mentioned that the first reaction that her and her brother had that Pink Diamond was young as their first concern, absolving her of guilt for her crimes.
I want to get behind that emotionally, but it's clear Pink was indeed a tyrant and caused significant harm to both Humans and Gems, or there would not have been need for a Rebellion, if the other Diamond come across as more controlled and better leaders back then-certainly not now, but back then. Despite her age, she certainly had the power to cause great concern.
And it's not like there are other children who can cause great him. Looking at you, Joffrey.
edited 9th Jan '18 8:53:38 PM by Aurabolt
I saw a post point out that, apparently, each of the three Diamonds' faces so far were revealed in January of the new year, i.e. the episode revealing Yellow Diamond's face aired January 2016, episode revealing Blue Diamond's face was January 2017, and now Pink's in January 2018. Thus it seems to be a deliberate pattern and White Diamond's face will be revealed January 2019. Thoughts?
Btw, I just watched this entire series at the end of last year, can I ask how often the episodes usually released? Is it like one season per year?
edited 10th Jan '18 11:29:34 AM by tesoroazul90
There are most likely a pretty large number of episodes finished and waiting for broadcast. The last really big hiatus, after "Lars' Head", was 226 days ago and only 8 episodes have aired since. That means they've probably finished 15 more episodes, which is addition to however many were finished back then.
On a related note, we've talked a lot about "bombs" vs. weekly airings, but what about airing same day/simultaneous VOD vs. over the course of a week?

Plus she also says this:
I'm not saying I like the idea. I just like looking at things from all angles.
edited 9th Jan '18 12:56:38 PM by xanderiskander