Summer of Steven - Bismuth Review

Bismuth is the 100th episode of the Steven Universe series, as well as ending the third week of the Summer of Steven event as it is a two-parter.

The episode starts with Steven and the Crystal Gems playing on the console until Lion makes a bit of a fuss with Steven's memorabillia T-Shirt. Steven then takes the T-shirt inside Lion's mane to keep the latter from playing with it, when he stumbles upon a bubbled gem that he accidentally broke free, revealing Bismuth.

Steven takes Bismuth to the Temple and she is revealed to be a member of the Crystal Gems and serves as the group's blacksmith, forging their weapons for the Gem War. After catching up on what happened in the last 5300 years, Bismuth is determined to give the Homeworld a whole world of hurt and upgraded the weapons of Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst, though the latter is suspicious that Rose never mentioned Bismuth. Steven meanwhile, felt a bit uneasy that the upgraded weapons were more lethal than ever, as well as Bismuth's aggressiveness.

Later at night, Bismuth provided some backstory about Rose and how she was the key to changing the roles of the Gems, breaking out the class system as a result. Bismuth, in return for Rose's help in making her choose her own path, forged Rose's sword. Further inspired by Steven's character, Bismuth wanted to show Steven another weapon that surpasses Rose's sword.

Back at the Forge, Bismuth introduces the "Breaking Point", or what I would prefer calling it the "Pile Bunker", a weapon capable of completey destroying the Gem itself. Steven, shocked at the weapon's capability, refuses to not only wield it, but also by anyone else, seeing that it is not right to destroy a Gem for any reason. This angers Bismuth and suspects that Steven is Rose and blames him for the current status of the Crystal Gems before attacking him. Unable to convince Bismuth to stop, Steven poofs her in self-defense, but promises to tell everyone of Bismuth being bubbled by Rose. Steven, hurt both inside and out, then destroys the Pile Bunker and returns to the Temple to tell the Crystal Gems what happened.

Ok, first off, the very plot of Bismuth was very predictable. Just seeing the promo saying she's one of the Crystal Gems, and that she was seen bubbled by Rose lets you know she's definitely up to no good. And we see why - Bismuth is what I would best describe as an example of extremism. There are two other words that better describe it in this political climate, but because of that, Youtube's terms of service, and among other things, I can't say those. But you should get what I mean.

Anyhow, Bismuth is just way, WAY determined to destroy the Homeworld Gems by literally any means necessary, without a single hint of compassion or mercy. This is why she created weapons that are meant to deal a lot of damage, and ultimately making the Pile Bunker. Yes, the show calls it "Breaking Point", but it's based on the famous weapon used in many mecha Anime. EVen Ben 10 had an alien that used the Pile Bunker as a primary weapon, and a similar one is also featured in Fallout 4.

From Bismuth's tale, Rose is ok with poofing Gems, but destroying them outright, effectively causing permanent death status, is something she is definitely against at. This leads to an argument that ultimately made Rose bubble Bismuth and seal her off, but never telling anyone about the incident. Perhaps the Gem War is happening or is ongoing and internal conflict is the last thing Rose needs.

Bismuth's tale has also confirmed something that has been a subject of debate among fans - that Rose Quartz is of a soldier-class, similar to Amethyst, Ruby, and Jasper. But Rose was never among the Diamonds. This revelation strengthens my theory that the Gem Rebellion sprouted out of Rose's desire to break Homeworld's caste system, wishing for every Gem to live out in whatever way they wanted, much like humans do, than their supposed role or 'programming'.

As for Steven, he had to make a very difficult choice of taking out Bismuth, even if its self-defense. It echoes Garnet's words to him in Monster Reunion that some Gems are just beyond their help. It also shows Steven the harsh reality that the world isn't always as bright and sunny as he thinks he is. At some point, he has to deal with the crap that falls on him. It's a subtle message to the younger viewer that they will one day go to a very dark place in their lives, and it's never pretty. But they must learn to deal with it whether they like it or not. It also harkens back to Greg's lesson of change, so this episode has a profound effect on Steven as he is closer to his coming of age.

Now this is just a minor thing, but when Bismuth was sparring with the Crystal Gems, there is an animation error where they forgot to give Bismuth pants. So.....yeah, she is definitely going commando there. But I guess because Bismuth is technically gender-neutral because she's a Gem, it got passed through the censors - or maybe Cartoon Network just missed that part.

So this ends the third week of the Summer of Steven event. What happens to Steven and the Crystal Gems now after Bismuth? We will find out this Monday.