Garnet: The Symbol of Love
- Nguyen Nguyen
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Introduction:
Steven Universe is a cartoon show created in 2013 by Rebecca Sugar. The cartoon consists of 5 seasons, a movie, and a sequel. The story follows young Steven, where we are introduced to his guardians: Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst. Immediately, the audience can tell that Steven’s guardians aren’t ordinary human beings. They have gems on different parts of their body, which explains why they call themselves “The Crystal Gem”. The Crystal Gems would often go out on missions to protect the citizens from gem monsters. And Steven, wanting to be part of the team, begins his journey towards growth.
- Warning: Major Spoilers-
Garnet is a Crystal Gem that was introduced along with Pearl and Amethyst as Steven’s guardians. Within the first few episodes of the cartoon, viewers can quickly catch on to her calm and nonchalant demeanor. She’s the Crystal Gem’s leader, who often protects others due to her strength. Despite her quietness, she has proven to be a responsible and caring guardian towards Steven.
As the end of the first season approached, viewers learned more about Garnet after she and the Crystal Gem encountered a Homeworld soldier gem, Jasper.
Upon her first appearance, it's clear that Jasper was on Earth to wipe out the Crystal Gem. With her strength and power, she immediately overwhelmed Garnet. After a few back and forths, Jasper, having the homeworld’s technology in her hand, uses it to break apart Garnet, and the Crystal Gem was swiftly captured onto the ship.
Steven finds himself on the ship after being knocked out by Jasper, and from a distance, the echoes of a melody are hummed. He then escaped from jail and began wandering on the ship. Steven quickly came across Ruby, who was seen to be panicking and anxious, mumbling to herself. Unable to leave a gem jailed, he offered to break her out, and Ruby took no time to rush to find the one she calls “Sapphire”. With Ruby now rushing off to her own path, Steven followed the humming and found his way to Sapphire, whom he quickly set free.
Sapphire, now free, held Steven's hand and rushed towards Ruby. As soon as their sights land on each other, they rush towards one another and begin fusing. This moment became one of the most memorable scenes as fans found out Garnet was a fusion between a Ruby and a Sapphire.
After this episode, moving forward, the creator began to expand on Garnet's identity as a fusion. Her normal, calm personality stays, but she’s now shown to be very expressive and supportive about fusion. Upon Steven’s first fusion with his friend, Connie, Garnet wasted no time to reassure Stevonnie that they are a miracle and deserve to enjoy all of the fun and not to worry together.
And by season 5, the show clearly established Garnet as a symbol of love and companionship as they publicly tied the knot between Sapphire and Ruby in the "Reunited" episode. This moment marked the first ever same-sex marriage in an animated cartoon show, in which Rebbeca Sugar had fought vigorously against the media censorship.
The episode shows the wedding between Ruby and Sapphire after they parted ways in earlier episodes. During their separation time, Ruby realizes that she wants her future to be with Sapphire, where, instead of fusing out of responsibility for the Crystal Gem, she wants to fuse and be with her out of love. This moment became one of the most controversial yet inspirational for many fans, as to many it speaks courtesy and passion, while for some it’s inappropriate.
As Steven Universe progresses, Garnet’s backstory is told. Ruby and Sapphire were in 2 different hierarchies. Sapphire was a gem that could see the future, so she’s valuable; she had an entire team of Rubies to protect her presence. After delivering a prophecy to Blue Diamond, Rose Quartz appeared and shattered all Rubies but one. And on her way to shattering Sapphire, the last Ruby immediately rushed over to protect her, where something magical happened.
Garnet was formed. However, due to anxiety and shock from what happened, they quickly unfuse. Knowing that they had just committed a taboo, Sapphire rushed towards Ruby and fell into Earth with her. As they spend more time together on Earth, learning and understanding each other, Ruby and Sapphire decide to fuse once more, where Rose Quartz found them. Fear was the first thing that came to Garnet, yet she persisted in protecting Sapphire; however, to their surprise, Rose Quartz fell in love with their fusion. She finds it new and refreshing, a symbol of courage, as they go against the rigid values of the Homeworld. Thus, Garnet’s journey as a Crystal Gem began.
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