Steven Universe. The Future. The End.
Change Is Hard.
“Yeah, but nothing is still on Earth. Everything's always changing-leaves, cities, even Jersey changes.” - Steven Universe
Steven Universe is a series that always seemed to struggle in finding its footing in terms of how it would progress the characters. Some would revert. Some would stay the same. Some would have radical changes that never seem to affect anything. But when it came down to its final moments, Steven Universe managed to find its footing with the character change that mattered most. Steven’s.
Steven Universe Future had a big underlying theme of change when it started, but as time progressed it became more and more obvious and hard to avoid. Steven had to face the changes in his life despite wanting so desperately to avoid them.
For the back half of Steven Universe Future, the focus of change shifted from external to internal. It was no longer about how everyone around Steven was changing. But about how Steven himself was changing and how this affected him.
His emotional distress caused physical deformation. His anger lead to increase in destructive power. His fear physically manifested in a protective bubble. Many things we’d seen happen throughout the show, but dialed up to 11.
With everyone else having changed so drastically, Steven was forced to face the question of if he had changed as well. The trauma he had faced for so many years began to break him. Everyone could continue to live with it, but he could not. Everyone managed to keep their relationships in a solid position, but he could not. Everyone managed to find their way in the world, but once again, he could not.
Everything the final season had been leading to came to bear in the 4-episode finale. Steven began to see himself as a monster. A killer. A burden. A problem. The Crystal Gems proved no help. The Diamonds could do no better. Steven felt alone. He had defined himself as helping other for so long, that when others offered him help, he lashed out.
He became the monster.
Steven had refused help for so long that he became what he thought he was. A monster. He physically corrupted himself, lashing out at his friends and family.
Change was the inciting factor of his distress, his anger, his guilt and seemingly his lonliness. But it was also what made him human once again.
It took a change in dynamic for Steven to see that he wasn’t a monster. His friends showing him their support when he felt there was no one he could turn to helped him to realise that he wasn’t alone. Even after everyone continued to move on. He still wasn’t alone. He realised that he did not always need to help others. That sometimes, to help himself, he’d have to let others help him. Not every problem had to be his burden to bear. Not every task had to be so herculean.
So we keep moving.
When all is said and done, Steven leaves. He goes off to be on his own and see the world. He lets the change happen. They use Cookie Cat as a way to discuss why Steven is leaving without really saying it. He’s a refugee of the war he’s been stuck in since birth. Now he has to leave his family behind. But Steven elaborates that it’s because sometimes, to change ourselves, we have to go it alone and move from where we are.
Yes, we’ll always have the support of those who care for us. But in the end, they can’t change us. We have to find that change in ourselves. That drive to be better. That will to keep going, even when it all gets hard. Support from others can help, but if you can’t find that willingness to change in your own heart, then nothing will ever get better.
I wasn’t sure if I would be satisfied with the ending Steven Universe would give. But I was satisfied. More than I imagined I could be. Would I have liked to see more of my favorite characters? Sure. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that Steven finally got to be free of the chains of the past.
He was free to face the future.
He was free to be human.
