What Happens Next: A Gallimaufry

melancholic romantic comic cynic. bi & genderqueer. fantasy writer. sysrae on ao3.

Steven Universe: Whose Temple?

Rewatching S1 of Steven Universe, it suddenly struck me that the gems, so far as we know, don’t have a religion - but in episode 3, they’re trying to return an artefact called the Moon Goddess Statue, and throughout the show, they live in a building called the temple. But if neither of these religious inferences come from gem culture, then why are they present in a show that’s meticulous about its worldbuilding?

Answer: because they’re human terms. Because humans used to worship the crystal gems.

I mean, the temple is such an integral background environment that we never really question it, and given that the gems themselves have clearly customised the interior, it’s easy to assume they built the entire structure. But if we actually pull back and look at the design, who does it resemble?

image

That’s right: Opal.

image

Which adds a whole new layer to Pearl and Amethyst’s conversation about why they never form her “anymore”, implying that they used to do so more often. Because Opal used to be an object of worship, and I can easily imagine Pearl and Amethyst being conflicted over how to deal with that. (For instance: Amethyst initially being excited at the possibilities and Pearl reticent to explore them, but that dynamic switching when Pearl realised she could use the position to moral effect, which would eventually make Amethyst uncomfortable.)

And then there’s the Moon Goddess Statue, which bears an uncanny resemblance to a Quartz or Diamond:

image

And remember that thing, where one of the Diamonds had a base on the moon? That explains the lunar association, but as far as the rest of the series goes, there’s no reason why any of the gems would refer to their higher-ups as deities - but as the gems have been on Earth for thousands of years, it does make sense that early humans would mistake them for goddesses incarnate. (And we know for a fact that the gems associated with early humans, thanks to Pearl’s passing observation that humans used to have a great time hunting and gathering, but don’t do it anymore.)

In conclusion humans used to worship gems and I can’t believe I didn’t realise this earlier.

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