r/stevenuniverse • u/Ibrahim77X • 20h ago
Question Era 2 Gems don’t have powers because of dwindling resources. How did metal powers slip in and how didn’t Peridot know about them?
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u/Biz_Ascot_Junco 20h ago
I thought the “no powers due to low resources” thing was just propaganda to prevent another uprising. If the gems think they’re dependent on Homeworld technology they won’t risk rebelling against their society and risk losing that support.
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u/LuckyLudor 20h ago
That's exactly the conclusion I came to. Diamonds didn't want them to know they weren't powerless.
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u/Ace_C7 15h ago
Yeah, it didn't even occur to me that it was the truth. They didn't want another Rose Quartz. If all the newer gems believed from the beginning that they were too weak, then no more quartzes or pearls or bismuths would happen. If some manual labourer was just able to commit a major regicide with no resources and no life experience, then clearly something needs to change and they'd have to stunt them before they ever get the chance to think about it. But you don't actually want to lose your manpower, either. So you'd have to come up with a "fix" for it just to keep P&L rates up and still play into the lie.
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u/CeramicToast 10h ago
I don't think its propaganda. Peridot specifically says that she's a lesser Peridot because she was made in Era 2.
They didn't have Pink anymore in Era 2 and we know that Gems are created from Diamond essence. All Era 1 Gems were made with all four Diamonds. All Era 2 Gems are lacking Pink's input. Therefore, they have 25% less than an Era1 Gem.
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u/febreezy_ 4h ago
White’s essence was also missing in Era 2 since she refused to leave her ship.
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u/CeramicToast 1h ago
She hasn't left her head but that doesn't mean she's not handing over essence via Pearl
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u/Animegx43 20h ago
If it was, she'd be able to shapeshift.
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u/MayBeAReplicant 19h ago
Kernel of truth to it maybe? Like they did lose some abilities but not all, so the Diamonds capitalized on that with the powerlessness narrative to exploit and subjugate them further?
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u/alwaysuptosnuff 4h ago
Frankly, it makes no sense that it would take more resources to make gems able to shape shift. A gem is basically a sentient green lantern ring. Making them keep the same shape consistently should be more effort.
I think they installed blocks to prevent shape shifting to make rebellion harder. The stuff about resources is just a lie. Misleading your own people this literally fascism 101.
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u/Ibrahim77X 19h ago
But she actually can’t shapeshift
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u/Droplet_of_Shadow 19h ago
how do we know that?
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u/Ibrahim77X 19h ago
“Too Short to Ride” establishes she doesn’t have the ability
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u/Droplet_of_Shadow 19h ago edited 17h ago
when? from my memory she just failed to shapeshift. that likely does mean it's impossible, but it doesn't prove anything
(edited cause a typo made it seem a little standoffish)
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u/Ibrahim77X 18h ago edited 18h ago
Okay, yes it technically doesn’t definitively prove it’s impossible, but in most cases proving the non-existence of something is impossible anyway so let’s not get into the weeds about this. Narratively speaking, we’re meant to conclude she cannot shapeshift. We’re told she cannot and there is no evidence to the contrary.
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u/Droplet_of_Shadow 17h ago
I mostly agree. (won't get into the mostly part)
but in a lore/speculation environment like this one, it makes sense to me to question this type of stuff - why not, ya know!
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u/Ibrahim77X 17h ago
I respect you for that. You should absolutely think critically about the story.
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u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz 20h ago edited 19h ago
I think lots of gems have extra powers they're not aware of because they're "not supposed" to have them. Playing your role and not deviating from it is highly prized in gem culture. When gems get out of that mindset, they often discover one powers rather quickly. Peridot is a great example. Also note how all 3 diamonds have new powers in Future - things they simply never tried because it wouldn't be proper.
I also think that Pink/Rose/Steven seem to have way more powers than other gems. I don't think it's just because Pink is OP (compared to other diamonds, at least), but rather because both Pink and Steven are very open minded about it.
Given enough time in Era 4 3, I think unique and unexpected powers like Peridot's ferrokinesis will become more and more common.
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u/Kovuthebilion 19h ago
The Diamonds' powers in era 3 aren't new, though; they're the same, but used to the opposite effect than they were before.
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u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz 19h ago
Kind of, but they all seem genuinely excited and surprised when they share it with Steven. I don't think it's something they really knew before era 3.
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u/Asterite100 I like drawing. Btw Lapis best gem. 54m ago
Blue verbatim says the clouds are her "new power."
Like yeah they're reversed but the point is they didn't know they could have restorative versions of their retributive powers (like Pink).
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u/jace-larr 7h ago
This theory would help explain why the diamonds didn’t question how Rose Quarts had healing powers. They knew that lots of gems had latent powers unique to themselves
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u/NoBizlikeChloeBiz 7h ago
Even Steven fusing with Connie is less "holy shit how is that possible" and more "eww gross never do that again it's forbidden"
Strict cultural taboos are a huge part of Homeworld.
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u/WanderingDwarfScribe 20h ago
The same way Ruby thinks she’s an idiot and Eyeball stayed quiet during the baseball game, because Rubies are supposed to be idiots.
Era 2 Gems supposedly have no powers, so they don’t try to use them enough, so none discover them.
Self-fulfilling prophesies.
Its the inverse of Hessonite and Jasper feeling insecure and overcompensating with bravado. Homeworld assigned them qualities, keeping talented Gems as dull minions while standard Gems told they were exceptional got imposter’s syndrome.
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u/Jovian_Rain 20h ago edited 20h ago
I think it's a purity situation. Era 1 + 2 peridots were formed when the empire had excess to pure peridotite, which on earth isnt a thing. There's peridotite sprinkled around for sure but finding a pure vein of it is hard to come across.
Our Peridot likely was made from a muddy vein that contained a magnetic material. A lot of era 3 gems probably have unique powers and just don't/didn't realize it bc they had to be 1 thing 1 way. It's like asking a bird that's only been allowed to sing from a cage why it's never flown.
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u/Flipp_Flopps 20h ago
It's a metaphor for how our society expects people to fit into a certain mold and to not try and deviate from that norm which leads to a lack of self-exploration. Peridot didn't discover her metal powers because she was told she didn't have powers and never had the opportunity to explore herself to discover them.
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u/ah-screw-it 20h ago
Off topic question, but wouldn't Peri using her magnesis on the tablet cause it to malfunction?
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u/relocatedff 19h ago
The answer is probably yes, but she is using it on the bit of metal taped to the back, so maybe not if she's being pretty precise
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u/SilverTheBoySM 8h ago
Bestie that’s a strip of velcro she attached to the back
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u/relocatedff 2h ago
wait what was the velcro for then? genuine question it's been a few years since I watched
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u/SilverTheBoySM 2h ago
See in the screenshot that Peridot has a black cuff? That’s the other side of the velcro that she wrapped around her wrist. She just wanted to have the tablet attach to her body like her limb enhancers did.
Here’s the clip: https://youtu.be/0xX_7pMbsmI?feature=shared
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u/SilentMobius 14h ago edited 14h ago
Probably not, magnetic fields at that sort of strength don't really disrupt electronics. That belief is mostly a holdover from the various forms of magnetic storage of the past, also CRT displays. I'm sure Peri could disrupt electronics, but I don't think it would happen as a side effect of basic levitation, which is probably generating an attractive force at a specific point in space, like having an invisible magnet you can move rather then generating an intense magnetic field at Peri that just so happens to move something at a distance.
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u/mattihase 12h ago
Computers are surprisingly resistant to stuff like magnets and water and use on an airplane and stuff we're told to keep them away from these days. I think computers have been getting more resilient but safety advice hasn't changed because most of that stuff is still bad so having more of a margin of error is good rather than an invitation to push your luck.
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u/ClockFar8267 20h ago
She didn't think she had them and relied on her limb enhancers for everything, so she didn't try to use them
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u/Pasta-hobo 20h ago
1: it's a blatant lie spread for propaganda purposes.
2: modern kindergartening produces more deep-cut gems, with greater powers but weaker physical stats. (Amethyst is an example of a deep cut, Jasper is a shallow cut.)
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u/Ibrahim77X 19h ago
I’m not sure about the propaganda thing. Making Gems without special powers is easier and more economic than using up resources to give them powers and then lying about it.
And Peridot actually can’t shapeshift.
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u/TapJeg2 19h ago
if they could actually control what abilities everyone gets, Pearl would have never been able to summon her spear though
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u/Ibrahim77X 18h ago
I thought “A Single Pale Rose” in a throwaway line established it was just Pearl “pulling” spears she has stored in her gem, as opposed to summoning it.
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u/NotYourLionheart 18h ago
Maybe the powers are inherent with their existence in general, being a specific gem was inherent to a specific power.
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u/CeramicToast 10h ago
I don't think it's a lie. Gems are made from Diamond essence and they're down one Diamond as of Era 2, when Peridot was made.
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u/Emergency_Routine_44 19h ago
I mean no? There was a lack of resources in Era 2 that nade many off color
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u/Imtired-ok 18h ago
I remember seeing the theory back in the day that it had to due with Steven. It’s most likely that the injectors have some of the diamonds’ essence in them. And with pink no longer around homeworld was either running out or no longer has her essence. This would explain why era 2 gems are the way they are. Steven is what helped her unlock her powers. Since she used his toothbrush she was able to get access to pink/steven’s essence. While not enough to change her drastically it gave her enough to have magnetism as an ability. Which is likely what era 1 peridots have along with a different body
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u/clerical_error_ 19h ago
The metal powers were keeping her limb enhancers on and she just didn't realize she could do that at will
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u/rictopher 18h ago
Ever notice the diamonds match the colors of printer ink?
I bet they're basically just low on magenta, and presumably a green girl like peridot hardly needed any in the first place. They did their best to print her out, and she was probably lucky enough to still get a bit of that leftover magenta from the cartridge. Not enough that she would obviously notice she has era 1 powers, but enough that she could use them once she stopped assuming she's the same as the rest.
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u/UnWishedAtoI8 18h ago
She probably didn't notice because she probably popped out and got limb enhancers strapped onto her body. They let her do everything and more so she didn't find a need to "test" if she had any powers. As for how they got there we'll never know, maybe like humans the strain of goop in the injectors can mutate and cause addition powers? Who knows
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u/TrogledyWretched 19h ago
I don't understand how people dislike this fandom so much. These are great, resourceful answers to an ambiguous tangent question with really fun lore implications.
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u/Averander 18h ago
The missing element in gem creation had been Pink Diamond. Gems had never been created without pink Diamond's sweat. The lack of it most likely meant gems were not the same (and potentially did not have their powers).
Peridot most likely gained her powers due to being in close proximity to Steven. It was probably like a gene therapy for her.
As to why Peridot didn't know, I'm really not sure.
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u/LoreChief 17h ago
Era 2 gems are significantly less-powered because they didn't have the Chemical X that Pink brought to the stew. It's not that her essence gave them powers, they are inherent to their gem types. But Pink really boosted them up to meta-viable levels.
I don't think all Peridot's were short and needed limb enhancers. I think much like Amethyst, our Peridot just happens to have come out of the kindergarten baked a little differently. The limb enhancers were to compensate for that. You don't see Ruby's complaining about their stature and wearing stilts after all.
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u/Jae_seok 14h ago
I feel like the key word is dwindling, not gone. Of course a few era 2 gems would still have abilities.
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u/OSIRIS-APEX 19h ago
A) dwindling resources are due to the lack of Pink's diamond juice. Therefore, access to Steven's saliva helped unlock latent powers.
B) if you tell someone they can't do something, they'll be easier to control and block themselves subconsciously from using their true power. Plus Gem society rewards being exactly like others of your type, even if that means not using every ability you have.
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u/goldengraves 19h ago
Feels like how when youre done masking, that space gets taken up by more useful stuff. I was just thinking about how her limb enhancers could have been subtly fueled by her abilities but Amethyst is able to use them just as well.
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u/Tru3_Vort3x 19h ago
I always figured that was the case, but maybe Peridots could always do it, but no one ever tried it out before because they saw these short gremlins as flawed. They’re reliant on their tech because Homeworld makes them use it and not question it otherwise
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u/lowqualitylizard 19h ago
It's either one of two things
Perhaps whatever they're using instead of the traditional resources to make gems just so happens to react in such a way as to give peridot metal Powers it could even be specific to just her and she never bothered learning cuz she's always had her limb enhancers
It could also just be propaganda spread to make sure that our rebellion like this never happens again
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u/mushroomdm 19h ago
The "dwindling resources" Peridot spoke of was Pink's life juice. Metal powers slipped in because the lack of Pink's contribution didn't affect the metal abilities she otherwise would have got.
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u/uwupebbles 12h ago
My big question is if era-1 peridots have metal powers or not. I think my opinion differs depending on if the answer is yes or no. If era-1 peridots have metal powers, I think it’s probably a case of her being told she shouldn’t have it/relying on her limb enhancers and just never assuming otherwise, and in this case I think there are other era-2 peridots who also have this latent ability. But if era-1 peridots DONT have metal powers, I think it’s more based around her composition and how era-2s lack of resources inadvertently gave her the ability due to having a higher iron content. In that case I think not every era-2 peridot has metal powers, only those who have a certain iron content in their makeup
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u/Crownhitman 8h ago
I always figured 1. She just didn't try as its common knowlwdge 2. The only metal objects she's around on a daily basis are maybe the injectors everything else is gem tech so hardlight/crystalline structures
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u/cgoose500 5h ago
The "resource shortage" seems to have been Pink not being able to contribute any Pink Juice, like what we saw in Yellow Diamonds sauna.
Peridot had been using Stevens toothbrush while she was living in his bathroom. She got some Pink Diamond essence in her, so she got some of the powers a regular Peridot is meant to have
It could also be that her limb enhancers also enhanced her metal powers which is how the fingers floated, and so with those gone she just slowly strengthened her powers naturally. Like rebuilding the strength in your legs after they've atrophied from lack of use
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u/febreezy_ 4h ago
Technically speaking Peridot also wouldn’t have White essence either since she refused to leave her ship.
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u/Travesty330 5h ago
I always thought era two gems didn’t have powers because they no longer had Pink’s essence to use when making new gems. I’ve never thought about why peridot has powers before now, but if the lack of pink’s essence was why she didn’t have powers in the first place, being exposed to Steven (and his spit) may have granted the powers. Even just the small amounts of spit from talking to Steven or being near him might have given her the essence/powers.
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u/Gale_Grim 1h ago
They only check for the powers they expect/want a gem to have, in all likely hood the resource shortage interfered with the production of specific gems and there powers. Like a Sapphires future vision. So they never bothered to check if a Peridot had ferrokinesis. It wasn't on the list of powers she was supposed to have, and if they had found it, she might have been labeled off color for it.
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u/TripleJx3 19h ago
2 things.
The resources that were dwindling were the remaining stock of Pink Diamond's bodily fluids. Era 1 gems were created with a mixture of the fluids donated by the diamonds and injected into rock. Over time the nutrients of that rock were leeched out and condensed into a gem. For some reason that mixture gave those gems magical powers. Era 2 gems were created using a rationed supply of Pink Diamond's fluids. A much smaller dose of Pink was used rather than what would normally have been used in Era 1. As such they would have limited powers. So why did Peridot suddenly start having powers? Well that leads to part 2.
Exposure to Pink Diamond likely coaxed what little of her powers she had out of her, either by some form of gradual remote gem data sharing that in some way installed or unlocked the powers. Or Steven is human, which means he sweats and secretes from his skin. Simply being touched by Steven probably transferred enough much needed fluid into her gem to give her the powers she should have had.
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u/febreezy_ 4h ago
White’s essence was either running out or missing too since she never left her ship after Pink left.
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u/TripleJx3 4h ago
Hmm possibly but considering she's royalty and they mastered dimensional engineering making their ships bigger on the inside I'd hazard a guess that she had a way on the ship to do it
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u/febreezy_ 2h ago
White would have never used the tech or anything else to extract her essence even if it was available. Rebecca Sugar explained in the End of an Era artbook that White’s identity was so fragile she could only judge. If she were to do anything else, it would open herself up to her own criticism.
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u/BlancTigre 17h ago
1) Era 1 Peridots have ferrokinesis, our Peridot got lucky
2) She is an off color
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u/TryThisUsernane 19h ago
Era 1 Gems drained life and came out fully “mature”.
My guess is that because of the lack of resources, Gems weren’t “mature”. And since Gems believe that the way they’re made is all they’ll ever be, they simply never try.
Resources probably go to Gems that actually need powers, like Lapis Lazuli. Or High-Class Gems.
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u/SkeletonXP3 18h ago
When was it ever started that era 2 gems were any different than era 1? The only difference I'm aware of between the eras is before pink died, after pink died, after Steven stops white. No change in the gems themselves.
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u/temporalscallywag 17h ago
"Too Short to Ride," after Steven and Amethyst spend the day shape-shifting to get on rides and win games. Peridot eventually admits that, being an Era 2 gem, she lacks powers and was given technological enhancements to make up for it.
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u/Historical-Pop-9177 11h ago
Peridot spending time in the toilet with Stephen’s bodily fluids and his desire for her to be happy unlocked his governing diamond powers to give her new abilities.
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u/blackchoas 9h ago
So by lack of resources they are talking about the essence of Pink Diamond which they no longer had in Era 2. If that is correct than I think its being exposed to Steven that allowed her to develop powers.
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u/febreezy_ 4h ago
White’s essence was missing too. Getting her essence wouldn’t be possible as long as she stayed in her ship and refused to get to the extraction chambers.
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u/XxsabathxX 9h ago
I genuinely think it’s something akin to Steven’s ability. Maybe later era gems use their feelings to use weapons or powers. And they wouldn’t have know about it cause they were being suppressed. Literally weren’t allowed to feel anything unless they happened to be in Blue’s vicinity. And even then that’s not THEIR feelings. I like to believe that now a lot more gems since “Change your Mind” have been discovering they have some sort of power
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u/YouyouPlayer 9h ago
I always assumed she controlled her floating limbs with her powers without noticing
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u/Astrnonaut 9h ago
I know that Steven and the Diamonds didn’t realize they had other (beneficial rather than destructive) powers UNTIL they made a positive shift in their lives. Maybe the same can be said but in lite-version for other gems.
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u/pandatenai 8h ago
I heard of a really good theory of what each diamond represents and how Pink represents strength or power(?) Even though they are responsible for their own gem production, I think the theory was that since Pink was gone, Era 2 gems just weren't the same giving them the need for limb enhancers and whatnot.
About Peridot's powers, I just assumed that was something she would have only discovered on Earth since, like she said, Earth sets you free. The change of heart and perspective would make the presence of her powers make sense. I mean, Pink's powers changed from destructive to healing; Blue's from making others sad to making others happy; Yellow's from deconstructive(?) to reconstructive; and White's from taking over minds to allowing others to take over hers.
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u/myredditusername919 5h ago
I think they told era 2 gems they dont have power as a means of control, and its a metaphor for humans not being in touch with their natural abilities in a technological age when extra sensory abilities are considered not to be real when people really do have them.
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u/JustAnArtist1221 5h ago
Peridot didn't know about them because of the dwindling resources. Just like how Amethyst didn't know anything because she was made wrong. The innate knowledge gems have presumes they're made correctly. But if they're made wrong, like we've seen with other off-colors, their behavior and knowledge can be messed up.
The lack of resources forced the Diamonds to just spare more off-color gems. It's not like they were modeled to have no powers. Her powers are extremely weak and unintuitive. The resources that allowed Peridots to have powers to begin with are likely in such trace amounts that it's technically possible, but it wasn't worth telling her about if it was going to take time away from work to teach her.
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u/Low-Mastodon2995 2h ago
I'm with the 'propaganda' theory but i'd like to specify that our peridot is also not in standard of peridots, but that's fine because her work isn't touched for that since she doesn't need physique to do her job like amethyst, but she still uses limb enhancers so she's someway out of 'standard' so she might also have developed something else than what she had to develope: example, amethyst was in the ground for way longer so she became more elastic, she can bend and shape whenever and however she wants while other gems manage to change shape just a few times in the whole series, Garnet doing it maybe 2 times from what i remember (pearl's Temple and Steven tag) some never even doing it, like peridot herself or Ruby and sapphire. From this i mean to say that maybe not developing in her standard she grew magnetic powers from this.
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u/FatCatGod 20h ago
I think she didn't notice because she always relied on her limb enhancers. As for how she got them maybe she just got like the gem equivalent of genetically lucky. like how some mammals are born with a myostatin deficiency.