A Way Too Long Analysis on Steven and Spinel’s Relationship

Sorry if this is late. I only watched the movie a few days ago, and finally picked the show back up after stopping just before the end of season 5 after a year off. I plan on finishing the season and catching up on SUF before March 6th. Also I’ve been posting a ton about Spinel lately, but she’s still fresh on my mind and I fell in love with her as a character (seriously, I adore her, because I relate to her abandonment issues, lack of self-esteem, lacking friends and being lonely; this does not mean I do not think her actions were not wrong. Also her silliness as a reset baby were adorable, and I love both her designs, as well as the pure, unadulterated rage she emitted over the film. Also seeing her handle that scythe was some gorgeous animation). I apologize and I would love to join in the fun regarding other aspects in the series once I am caught up. Just a warning: this is a long-ass read that came from the mind of a bored dude who was watching hockey at the time. Anyway...


Some have said that Steven was a jerk towards Spinel in the film. Some have pointed out that they never hugged. I myself would have liked to see one, since Spinel was in so much emotional pain and had every right to be with what Pink did to her, but I can’t really blame Steven for not showing a ton of affection towards Spinel (early on at least). I think it’s super easy to see why he wasn’t so loving towards her when she was rejuvenated, because she was overly clingy, childish, and distracting when Steven was racing against the clock to restore his family’s memories and save the Earth (which was entirely Spinel’s fault, mind you). While Spinel did not have the ability to read the situation. She was more focused on playing tag instead of seeing the bigger picture and how dire it was. But it’s not like Steven was a total ass to her; he did commend Spinel for her puzzle analogy, and wasn’t really mean to her. It also makes sense why he was way more affectionate towards Amethyst than Spinel when she got her memories back. Amethyst is basically Steven’s loving older sister. We know how deep their bond is. Steven only knew Spinel for a few hours at most, and this Spinel was completely different than the one that initially came to Earth to burn everything to the ground! We also shouldn’t forget that Spinel’s assault on him and the three members of his family he was closest to (you know, the one’s that served as his mother after Pink became him? The ones that lovingly raised him?) that resulted in their memories being wiped was fresh on his mind.

I do think he started to care about her when they went to the garden together and he learned of her tragic past. Though it might seem that Steven was insensitive by prodding her about if she got her memories back, you gotta remember that the clock was ticking. He NEEDED Spinel to remember so she could deactivate the Injector before it injected enough poison to kill him and all organic life on Earth. It actually did look like he was going to show affection towards her when she did revert into her current form, but got shoved away when Spinel lashed out at him. Steven did offer Spinel the chance to save the Earth and make new friends. Not because he was manipulating her, but because he was basically killing two birds with one stone. We also saw Steven snow understanding of the situation, basically apologizing for his mom’s actions and also not being surprised at all that Pink left her. Then they sang “Found”, and while some have said that Steven was singing about Spinel finding someone, but not him, I’m not so sure. I do believe that Steven would have been totally okay with befriending Spinel and helping her make new friends on Earth once he completed his tasks. Because this is Steven we’re talking about. I truly do not believe he explicitly referred to “someone” as “anyone *except* him”. It was more likely he would have become her first friend, while also wanting her to make other friends as well. I mean they did hold hands and Steven was being extremely caring and careful around someone who was clearly unstable. Some have also pointed out how they started holding hands until they stopped, but this absolutely does not mean Steven was being rude. Besides, they held hands going down the stairs from Steven’s bedroom when they returned from the garden. And we did see Steven reassure and encourage her when Spinel showed fear and insecurity in now she would be perceived by everyone downstairs.

Then, when Steven accidentally caused Spinel to believe that she was only being used to turn off her injector, and was being abandoned again, I don’t think Steven *actually* was planning on abandoning her. Nor do I think he was faking kindness to manipulate her to fulfill his task. He can both be concerned about his needs and hers at the same time. It’s just that Steven still had to get Garnet’s memories back and start getting everything back to normal, and this justifiably has higher priority than Steven and Spinel becoming friends. Also, Spinel simply didn’t know *how* to be a friend. She only knew to cling onto someone (understandable because of her trauma) and constantly entertain them due to her programming and purpose as a Spinel. Also, Steven was *exhausted*. He was stripped of his powers by Spinel and had to work extra hard. The fact that he and Greg managed to fuse and not separate prematurely was a miracle. Plus, Steven was 16 at the time. 16 year olds aren’t exactly the most graceful when it comes to social skills. Sure, it would have been better if Steven gently reassured Spinel that he wasn’t leaving and maybe asked for her help in getting Garnet back to normal. But he didn’t. And it’s easy to see why he made this mistake with the amount of stress he has been going through.

Also, the rejuvenator thing was simply a mistake from Steven. He should never have had it in his pocket. He should have either left it at the Beach House, or destroyed it. He was *never* gonna hit Spinel with the weapon again, even if Spinel believed otherwise. And he ended up destroying it anyway when they began fighting again, when he easily could have poofed Spinel again while she was unarmed.

But when they did fight on the injector, Steven realized that *he* needed to change and had the power to. He began to resent his mother for leaving a bunch of her sins for him to fix. But he also seemed to resent Pink for abandoning Spinel when he apologized on her behalf in the Garden. When the two did fight (at this point the injector released all the poison into the ground), Steven’s objective became to save Spinel from herself, by getting her to realize that, like himself, that she had the power to change. His song was him expressing that he believed in her. And it’s not like Steven was lacking empathy; he literally said out loud that he understood that Spinel was in a lot of pain. He never discounted her suffering and the reason for it. He *did* feel for her. And this all worked: Spinel literally tugged on her pigtails and pounded her head as a form of self-harm, seemingly punishing herself, because she was *finally* starting to see that her actions are wrong. She was finally showing regret. She was *finally* seeing that there’s someone right in front of her trying to help. She was finally beginning to question herself and why she did all this in the first place. It was a slow process as she was still angry and in denial (“You can’t change the way I feel!”), but her rage was being chipped away by Steven’s compassion. She started hating herself for the path of destruction she laid upon Steven. Then, by constantly shielding himself upon getting his powers back and not putting up offense, he managed to talk Spinel down, get her to lose the will to fight, and got her to come to her senses. She broke down in tears because she felt deep regret for wanting to hurt Steven. She expressed sorrow at not being able to be a friend; by not being Steven’s friend. Right before the injector exploded, Steven did appear to show concern about her. If the injector wasn’t about to explode, I have zero doubt that Steven would have embraced Spinel, comforted her and told her he held no grudge toward her for what she did. Steven’s an extremely empathetic kid. We’ve seen him befriend an extremely unstable Lapis and then forgive her despite the fact she nearly drowned him to death. He still found Pearl “pretty great” in spite of the fact that she nearly let Steven fall to his death when she was resenting him for Rose’s/Pink’s death and hugged her. He became close friends with Peridot, another former foe who wanted him dead for the crimes his mother didn’t commit. He even was friendly with *Jasper*. And the diabolical and genocidal Diamonds went from wanting him dead, the ones that nearly blew the Earth up with a cluster of corrupted gems forcibly fused together, to loving him like a grandson. Also, Steven not only protected himself from the explosion, but also Spinel when he grabbed her and bubbled them both. He absolutely did not have to do this.

Moving on to the film’s conclusion, Steven *still* showed signs of caring for her well being. He helped Spinel off the ground by extending a hand, and held no grudge for her ruining his supposed “happily ever after” when Spinel expressed shame for putting an end to it. He reassured Spinel that he would come back when he left to reunite and comfort his own friends and family (who went through a lot thanks to Spinel’s actions). Hell, he never even demanded she help clean up Beach City. Obviously Steven will prioritize Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, Greg, Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth, who all had to either be saved or be forced to help clean up Spinel’s mess. Steven*did* come back for her and verbally acknowledged this when Spinel was walking away, but Spinel in the end decided that because she “messed up bad” with Steven, she wanted a new start with someone rather than with him and his family and friends, as much as she probably wanted to be friends with Steven deep down. Spinel was probably gonna go somewhere far away from Beach City on Earth. She probably felt too uncomfortable around him due to her shame. Maybe this was another time they could have hugged, but it would have made more sense for Spinel to hug (or initiate one with) Steven in this situation than the other way around.

When the Diamonds showed up, Steven didn’t simply hand her over to get them both off his back. He simply saw this as an opportunity for Spinel to get the fresh start she wanted and needed. It also might be better for Spinel to go with them, since because of the damage to the area, Steven and his companions would probably be too busy to provide Spinel the love and affection someone like her would need. The Diamonds can provide this. Heck, Steven even asked Spinel if she was *sure* if she wants to go with them, as he would then state that they’re a lot to handle. This makes it seem like Steven would *still* be open to having Spinel live with him on Earth. In the end, Spinel decided to go to Homeworld over staying. And Steven smiled as they Diamonds lifted her away. Not because he was glad she was going away, but because he was happy that she found someone that will love her, and those she will love again. I do kinda wish that she stayed on earth, but oh well. Also would have liked to see Steven offer an invasion back to Earth when she wants to feels ready to, but it is what it is.

Steven had zero obligation to be friends with Spinel or help her in any way, but he did anyway. And he probably would have gladly befriended her anyway if things didn’t happen the way they did. I truly believe that if this show wasn’t ending in 10 episodes, we would have seen Steven and Spinel develop a very close bond with one another, similar to Steven and the development of his close friendship with Peridot. They just have so much to relate to (especially regarding Pink), are both going through a lot of pain and depression, and both are fun loving and energetic. Steven would probably love Spinel’s energy and would find her to be a ton of fun. Spinel certainly wouldn’t be cruel towards him. Whenever she wasn’t irrationally angry, we saw Spinel (the current one, not the cute baby reset one) was actually pretty friendly, and was concerned for those other than herself. She was just really shy, awkward and self-conscious. And he would be there for her when she needed a shoulder to cry on (and he would need to be; trauma and abandonment issues don’t get fixed in a day or a week). While Steven had no obligation to help her, he probably would have been happy to once the crisis she brought upon ended and he didn’t have this giant priority he needed to tackle (though he wouldn’t do the work for her; he would definitely want Spinel to put in the work to get better, while being her biggest fan to cheer her on and nudge her in the right direction as Steven has a life of his own to live). Had Steven not have fucked up after Spinel initially deactivated her war machine, her befriending Steven probably would have been just the thing she needed. Hell, she probably would have eventually become a Crystal Gem (though at some point the CGs are gonna have to stop accepting members because membership is getting kinda crowded, and they can’t just let every evil gem who gets redeemed join lol). It is a shame that we won’t get to see this due to how close we are to the series finale, but I really do hope they reunite before the show ends and finally hug. I’d love to see Spinel play a big part in the finale (especially if the rumors about where Steven is going with his own bad mental state in the final episodes), but I won’t be upset if this doesn’t happen.

Yes, Spinel’s actions were very wrong (she wanted to kill him in spite of her being aware that he and Pink aren’t the same; she even made Steven *bleed*). Yes, Rebecca Sugar is correct in that Spinel is toxic. But this does not mean she is irredeemable. And a person being toxic does not mean they are also evil. Of course, things would be completely different if Spinel’s actions led to death or serious injuries, but thankfully neither of these things happened (maybe the poison burning Greg’s arm is an exception, but this was not a direct action toward him, and Steven was able to heal him, anyway).

In my mind, Steven handled the situation in as mature away as he could have, showing Steven’s growth from the happy-go-lucky kid to an older teen close to adulthood. He identified how Spinel acted and felt

tl;dr Steven was not a jerk to Spinel and anyone who says he never cared about her is full of shit. Steven showed a lot of love and compassion towards someone who personally wanted to kill him and his friends and family. Even though he had to prioritize saving Beach City, himself, and his companions from destruction, this does not mean he did not have the ability to also care about Spinel’s situation and well-being at the same time.