pearl made a stand against her homeworld. she was thrilled to be in that fight. even thousands of years later, she romanticizes it the same way she romanticizes rose. she hesitated at first, but her freedom matters to her. nowhere is that more obvious than during gem heist and that will be all.
pearl is MISERABLE in her homeworldian role. being ordered around like this disgusts her, annoys her, and humiliates her. she is NOT content with that. the only part she enjoyed about her old life was pink herself, not the job. it is her belief in her own selfless devotion that drove her. all the way up until “do it for her”, she believed unyielding self-sacrifice was a part of being in love.
in other words – she’s in love with pink, and was in love with the idea of being her knight. not the homeworldian hierarchy.
that devotion wasn’t exactly healthy, but that’s something the show is aware of. that’s why there’s so much focus on pearl’s feelings after rose is gone. she has to be her own gem now. as RS has said, she thinks it’s a “horrible message” to little girls that love will validate you, and that it’s okay to depend entirely on one person’s validation. that’s what pearl’s arc is about. it’s about overcoming that… while also acknowledging that both rose and pearl really cared about each other, and rose wanted pearl to be free.
on the contrary, pearl absolutely RELISHES in being able to tell those who would force this role upon her where they can stick it. she is just giddy with power upon confronting holly blue. this is portrayed as, not just healthy, but badass. we also see this in “last one out of beach city” – breaking laws and norms thrills pearl.
the end of rose was notthe end of that. rose encouraged her to be herself, and break free from her role… but for these scenes, we see a pearl who is completely free from rose. that’s when pearl is at her healthiest. her relationship with rose definitely wasn’t as perfect or wholesome as pearl wanted it to be, but she is a rebel. and she loves it. she is unabashedly herself, and shamelessly a fighter, besserwisser, and lawbreaker. with or without rose attached to it.
Pearl was still loyal to her Diamond, sure, but I imagine she would have justified it in another way. Regardless, she still rebelled against her position in homeworld society and clearly relished in proving gems wrong about what Pearls are capable of.
^ yes. but that loyalty wasn’t as servile as people make it out to be, either. she continued to have a “knight” mentality, but there’s more to it than that. pearl not only became genuinely independent, her own person with her own desires, interests and talents, but she also openly questions rose’s decisions. in “story for steven”, she is the polar opposite of servile – she’s outright judgmental of rose and her choice of human mate. if she felt like a servant, she would NEVER have said that. she would NEVER have tried to sabotage it, either.
pearl and rose are complicated people. yes, pearl had a moment of hesitation. it would change everything… but she was genuinely excited for it. that wasn’t just something rose ‘forced’, that was something that caused her to smile and blush in her own excitement.
these aren’t my words, but i believe someone pointed out that when a girl puts a hibiscus flower on the right side of her hair, it’s a symbol of freedom and not being tied down in a relationship. this is pearl embracing that.
it also explains why rose was never comfortable being pearl’s love. she may have loved her in return, but that’s why she didn’t want them to be an item. not with their history.
i’ve also seen people use pearl’s war trauma as a way to justify their interpretation of her as a “servant at heart”, and… folks, it’s such a stretch. she was traumatized by the fact that she LOST EVERYONE. she regretted that faking pink’s death led to mass corruption. not rebelling in the first place.
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