User blog:AustinDR/Will Blue Diamond Redeem Herself?

Now, I've heard it said that, according to Rebecca Sugar, creator of Steven Universe, that there are no "true" villains in the series. To me, Steven Universe is one of those shows that leans more towards the optimistic side of the spectrum wherein several antagonists have or could potentially possess mitigating factors that keep them from being pure evil. For instance, Jasper seemed to be your generic baddie at first glance, but then we're shown how she was basically built to fight and serve her Diamonds without question. And when she's corrupted, she actually comes off as sympathetic. Or then you have Peridot who had a redemption arc devoted to her. So, putting that into consideration, the most likely question now is whether or not one of or if all of the Diamonds could redeem themselves. Most specifically Blue Diamond.

For those unaware, Blue Diamond is one of the rulers of the Gem Homeworld as well as a member of the Great Diamond Authority. She was first introduced in person in the episode "The Answer." In it, she was shown overseeing the colonization of the Earth; it was originally Pink Diamond's duty, but she was shattered by Rose Quartz's hands. Here, Blue Diamond is depicted as ruthless, going as far as to demand that Ruby be shattered when she accidentally fused with Sapphire, who initially served in her council. Despite this, when she appears in person in "Steven's Dream," she is starkly different from what Garnet said about her (no, I'm not saying that she's an unreliable narrator; she might've left out the fact that Rose shattered PD to save Steven from the truth). Here, she's in deep mourning over PD's shattering, and visits her fallen palanquin. She even bonds momentarily with Greg when she realizes that he shares her pain as he lost someone that he deeply cared for. And....then she kidnaps him to add him to the Zoo. Yeah.....

Now, the question currently is whether or not BD could be redeemed given the fact that she displays more sympathetic qualities. Since she's not for the Earth's destruction, surely she would deflect from Homeworld and join the Crystal Gems? In my honest opinion, I doubt she will be redeemed. Now, I'm not blindside her sorrow (I mean, she's been grieving PD's loss for thousands of years), but realistically speaking, would she actually redeem herself? The only reason as to why she's upholding the Zoo is because it belonged to Pink Diamond. That's really why she remotely cares about the Earth and its life; keep in mind, what do the Diamonds do to planets they come across? That's right: they colonize them. Surely there is more life out there besides the humans and the gems, but they were most likely driven to extinction by the Diamonds. Since they view organic life with disgust, BD only wishes to keep PD's legacy by collecting humans because again, the planet was originally PD's before her shattering. If it wasn't for that small fact, she wouldn't give a rat's ass about the Earth.

As for Greg, yes, she bonds with them due to their mutual losses of loved ones, but I felt that the situation would've played differently had Greg let it slip that his wife was a Rose Quartz. Yeah, Rose might've not let it slip that she had to kill Pink Diamond, but just by saying that his wife was a Rose Quartz, I'd think BD would smash him then and there. Let's not forget the fact that she also took part in the Corruption Song which corrupted not only a majority of the Crystal Gems (sans Rose and her crew), but also her own subjects who were unable to leave the Earth in time. That's not going into the fact that she still comes off as intimidating in "The Answer" especially with her threat of having Ruby shattered for a minor offense.

So, in short, I highly doubt that Blue Diamond will be redeemed, or team up with Steven for that matter. It just goes to show that not everyone can be befriended. I don't mean to sound skeptical about the likelihood of her turning over a new leaf, but I'd rather believe that she's only concerned for Earth because she can't let go of Pink Diamond. However, I can't really call her "evil" either, at least currently. She's extremely hard to hate, at least in my opinion. Still, that doesn't excuse the bad things that she had done throughout her limitless life, that I won't ignore.