Oh Fair Ones - Steven Universe

O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen! 
But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return.


Man I had so much fun painting this. This is a scene I've had in my mind's eye ever since the episode with Centi. Learning about the gem war - and how the Diamonds just nuked the planet and that's how Centi became a monster - I realized something. If the gems are still gathering up stray gem monsters on a pretty frequent basis, then how many gems were turned into monsters at the start?? They've been hunting gem monsters for over 5,000 years. So there must've been millions, maybe more, that were on the planet when the diamonds released their song. Only Rose, Pearl and Garnet survived in her bubble; Amethyst in the ground; and Lapis in the mirror.

I imagine that Rose Quartz and the rest could not have known that the diamonds could do that - a massive, planet-wide corruption. Had they known, would they have really fought against the diamonds at all, knowing they wouldn't hesitate to use this weapon if it came to it? It was a death sentence. Rose, Pearl, Bismuth, they all acted like they had a chance at winning the war. But they really, really didn't.

So that first moment...after dropping her protective shield...when Rose, Pearl and Garnet see the battlefield for the first time after the song. Where one moment before there were gems - foes, and friends - now there would be an endless field of corrupted, crazed beasts. The realization of what had happened to millions upon millions of people, in just one moment.

Poor crystal gems. Poor Rose, who for her conviction in protecting the earth, truly never wanted to hurt anyone. Thus began the long work of rebuilding a life for themselves here...and taking care of all the gems whose corruption they caused.


Sad pieces are such fun to create though. XD And it was a blast designing and painting all those monsters - although I did put in a few that were on the show, like Centi, of course. The poster child of corrupted gems.


Steven Universe (c) Rebecca Sugar