Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26208943-20150224183255/@comment-26268246-20150401222721

Maybe lion isn't Rose herself.

Maybe he's just an amalgamation of what was leftover from Rose after Steven's creation.

This is a being who knows its creator, knows who it must protect, but not what he is in the grand scheme of things. My guess is that it took on a lion form from the first thing it saw, which was an open page from an animal picture book for toddlers.

The one thing we have yet to see on the show is Lion actually entering Roses room. I believe that two things would happen:

1) Lion would appear to turn into Rose Quartz.  However, this would just be a vessel containing the memories that Rose had before the birthing process.  This figure would serve as a tutor for Steven to help him gain control of his powers as well as accurately teach him about Gem history and what his destiny will be.

2) As an after-effect of the transformation, the room would become the subspace that could previously be accessed through his mane (albeit, with a more breathable atmosphere).  This would be adequete training grounds as well as a nursery for the fallen gems that Steven could tame and turn into helpful allies (like the Centipeetle from Monster Buddies).