Summer of Steven - Steven vs Amethyst Review

The story of this episode is going to be quite short. In Steven vs Amethyst, Garnet and Pearl returned to the temple and learned of what happened in the previous episode. Meanwhile, Amethyst is still badly de-moralized after the battle until Steven convinces her to join him in his training.

As the training ensues, Amethyst, who is taking the training seriously, is showing her skills falter when compared to Steven's progress. Later, while the two play a console game, Amethyst lets out that Steven is better than her in terms of skill, power and abilities. Steven disagrees and said he's still behind and an argument ensues, leading to the two to have a showdown to see who is the worst Gem. The two then try to "beat each other in the worst possible way". When neither could lose over the other, they settled their differences, only to meet an enraged Pearl after seeing the two destroyed the training area.

Steven vs Amethyst is more straightforward in terms of the plot. It's why the narrative is quite short in a sense that there's no reason to embellish it further. The episode as well focuses primarily on Amethyst as she deals with her being the weakest of the Crystal Gems. It's also another emotional roller coaster for her after what happened in the Kindergarten episode.

What Amethyst said about Steven is true though, even if not much time has actually passed. Steven has grown in terms of his understanding of his powers and how to use them. He is also showing a sense of maturity by being his own person and not a reincarnation of Rose Quartz. In a way, it reminds me of his conversation with Garnet where she said that although she is a fusion of Ruby and Sapphire, she is also her own person.

On that note, I did find a difference when comparing Garnet to other fusions like Stevonnie. It's likely because Garnet is fused for so long she has developed as a character that's entirely on her own. Stevonnie's persona is mainly a combination of Steven and Connie's, obviously, but she has yet show her own individuality - what makes her 'her'.

If you're having a bit of trouble understanding that, let's compare Korra and Aang from the Avatar series. Korra, of course is the reincarnation of Aang. So technically, they're the same person. But at the same time, they formed their own personas that makes each of them unique, having their own way of thinking things and being a true individual, separate from their past incarnations. It's why Korra and Aang can converse with each other as two different people despite being the same person.

Anyhow, I'm glad the show is making Steven grow up a bit and hope they do this consistently as the show progresses. And in spite of some of the drama coming out of Amethyst, overall, Steven vs Amethyst is the most light-hearted of this week's set of episodes. I ended up laughing at Steven and Amethyst battling one another and trying to be totally bad at it, only to give the opposite effect. And in the end, Amethyst's issue is quickly resolved, prepping us for Bismuth's impending arrival. So of all the episodes this week, Steven vs Amethyst ends up as my top pick. We'll see if the 100th episode beats it.