A little late, but here it is. There will be spoilers in here.
A little late, but here it is. There will be spoilers in here.
Ronaldo Smith wrote:
Jasper let go of Lapis. Lapis stepped away from Jasper and thought about it.
At that moment Lapis could have said no and run over to join the CGs, Jasper would not have been able to stop her.
Instead she chose to fuse with Jasper, so that she could take out revenge for being trapped in the mirror for 5000 years on Jasper.
...
Jasper is not holding Lapis. All of the characters in this sceen have just survived the crash, except Lion. The CGs had the added benefit of being in Steven's bubble during the crash. Jasper had been thrown into the ships power plant. Lapis, the water witch, is next to the Ocean. Lapis could have said no. There would have been a fight, but Jasper had no real chance of winning. If anyone is in danger of being shattered it is Jasper, by a hand of water. Her only option would have been to run away.
Anyway, that's my opinion, and you're entitled to yours as well.
Lapis has literally almost destroyed the planet when her Gem was cracked.. And Jasper is basically worn out and destroyed. It really wouldn't take much to end Jasper.
And yet Jasper was able to survive it just fine...say for one or two scratches, but still. And besides, that's just it: Lapis is many things, but she's not as sadistic as Jasper. She felt necessary to defeat her with irony; both here, and in Alone At Sea. And really, who seriously didn't think of it as cathartic to have Jasper's plan come crashing down after essentially being a sore loser and hypocrite?
But hey, to be fair after all I've said, all I say here's just MY take on this. Nothing I say is in absolutes, I just go by what the show gives me and assess the situation from there. If you see more potential for Jasper as a good guy, then fine; I won't stop you from thinking this, and hey, the Summer's only halfway over. I'm just saying that as of NOW, there isn't much to suggest that Jasper will turn tail at this point. Though, if the last week's round of episodes is of any indication...that may change.
Just me or the part when Lapis refused to put on the captain's hat, is something you could see Pearl doing. I wish Lapis and Pearl would bond already, be like their own version of Peridot and Amethyst relationship, they are very similar of being the tidey one.
Dinoboygreen wrote:
Do something
Not really. All the Crystal Gems by this point were in no condition to fight, and both Lapis and Jasper figured this out quickly. Yes, they stood there as this twist of fate unfolded...because what else could they do? If they tried intervening, Jasper would've poofed and/or shattered them all due to their battered state.
Yes, of course. I understand that they are all in bad shape, but Jasper is no better.
The Crystal Gems were inside a ship, inside a protective bubble that softened the landing greatly, Jasper was in a three minute battle with Garnet, was struck multible times, was thrown into a space engine, electrocuted, and crashed down a ship unprotected..
So, if the THREE kinda battle torn Gems were to even try to attack the battle destroyed Jasper, I have my doubts Jasper stands in chance.
Dinoboygreen wrote:
Do something
Yes, of course. I understand that they are all in bad shape, but Jasper is no better.
The Crystal Gems were inside a ship, inside a protective bubble that softened the landing greatly, Jasper was in a three minute battle with Garnet, was struck multible times, was thrown into a space engine, electrocuted, and crashed down a ship unprotected..
So, if the THREE kinda battle torn Gems were to even try to attack the battle destroyed Jasper, I have my doubts Jasper stands in chance.
Alright, alright, you made your case. Still, there is one thing you're forgetting. Ever seen when someone's weakened after a big fight, and in a last-ditch effort of desperation, gains enough adrenaline to knock out a boxer? Methinks Jasper's the kind of Gem that could do that and then some, even after her little ride down the engine core of life!
However, as I've said, nothing I say here is law. The scales of character development could tip either way, and it wouldn't be the first time I've been caught off-guard before by an unexpected redemption.
Idk why but I can't upload this file so I'll just link it
https://67.media.tumblr.com/bc1a15da129c212c117a51406ff2f408/tumblr_ob73xxacL31utxsh4o1_540.gif
Please tell me i'm not the only one sitting watching the episode for about the seventh time since it came out and still being like "OH thank GOD they didn't re fuse!" I was actually worried they would just teh way Lapis was talking before Jasper popped back up.
Also I REALLY REALLY want to know a few things about Lapis. Why was she on earth to begin with? like I doubt she was just visiting I think maybe she was scouting or something and just never told Steven. AND what about her made Jasper literally call her a monster? What horrible things had she done before being put in the mirror..
I love Lapis sooooo much and this just makes me love her more.
TL;DR: Jasper enjoys victory and the feeling of power, not witnessing the pain of others just for the sake of it. If you can point out any evidence pointing otherwise, I'd be glad to hear it.
On top of that, she didn't even need to knock Steven out; she could've just grabbed him and tossed him in a cell, and the outcome wouldn't that much different. Garnet would've still been poofed, and Pearl and Amethyst would likely have turned themselves in (not saying they didn't here, but still), knowing Jasper could wipe the floor with all of them if Jasper saw fit.
THIS is why I say Jasper's kind of a sadist; she goes out of her way to be cruel to hostages that did virtually nothing to her personally. And for the record, Garnet wouldn't have attacked first had Jasper not wanted to take Steven away to Homeworld as no doubt a trophy to the worst of the Homeworld lot: Yellow Diamond.
The thing with sadism is that it's defined as, essentially, bringing the pain. And what does Jasper do in nearly every event she's in? Bring the pain! She enjoys beating the clods out of every Gem that isn't herself, and will harm anything she sees as going against HER will.
As for your take on Alone At Sea....I'll grant you that wasn't complete sadism there; however, that's because she's trying to be devil's advocate like in Jail Break. She was desperate for what was to her, a steroid boost. And what would she do with this boost? Likely bring MORE PAIN than she did before!
Hope this isn't super late or anything, lol.
I think it's important to remember that Jasper is a quartz gem, and definitely fought in the war. She was programmed by Homeworld to react violently to most problems, and being involved in such a large scale combat likely just reinforced that mindset more. I'm not saying she was right in her actions, but I think it's important to think about stuff like that. Jasper's a fun character to think about! That's one of the things I like about SU; all of the characters, even minor characters and antagonists, generally are more than meets the eye.
Also, Jasper was in charge of the Earth mission, I believe. The Rubies in Hit the Diamond specifically say so. Being a quartz, her first thought is probably "There's a problem? Just get rid of it," hence her immediate "Just blast them with the ship." Peridot doesn't dispute this; Peridot just wants to do her work with no interruptions. She attempts to kill the CGs later, too, whether it's justified or not.
I don't specifically see how Jasper was being overlly cruel. I mean, she could've been a lot nicer, but these are the Crystal Gems - they rebelled against Homeworld, and they won. They are enemies in the eyes of Homeworld, and Jasper is, as a quartz, very loyal to Homeworld. It may have been unneccessary to poof Steven, but at this point Jasper believed he was Rose Quartz, a powerful strategist and warrior. Best to get her out as soon as she could to prevent her from trying anything. I don't see her being too cruel to her prisoners, either - she locks them all up so they can't wreak havoc on the ship or try to escape (after all, they are prisoners), and aside from the obvious Garnet and Steven, there's no sign of any of them being roughed up (I might be wrong about this, though). The most she does from the initial capture until the fight with Garnet is punch the wall and tell Sapphire to stop singing.
As for whether or not she's really a sadist, the definition of sadism is "the tendency to derive pleasure ... from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation in others." I guess this is true in some respects, but it's more than "Woah mama, I sure love watching people in pain!" It seems to me that her mindset is more a combination of enjoying power and displaying her power (which often is conveyed by beating people up, since that's what she's told, as a quartz, to do), reveling in victory over her opponents, and being loyal to Homeworld and wanting to punish their enemies. And these things show in each other; she is powerful so she can achieve victory, she is achieveing victory for Homeworld (in her first appearances, at least; this is less true more recently), she is a soldier for Homeworld so she must be strong and defeat their enemies, she has to be victorious to show that she is strong. That is what being a quartz is to Homeworld; they must be strong and loyal, which leads to an obsession with winning. At least, that's how I interpret it. I feel like if she were really super sadistic, she would have roughed up her prisoners (namely Amethyst and Pearl) a lot more than she actually did. She wants to beat the enemy, show Homeworld how powerful and capable she was for defeating the Crystal Gems and Rose Quartz herself, and see that the enemy are punished by Homeworld for rebelling and interfering with their plans.
That was probably really disorganized, sorry. I love talking about Jasper; antagonists are always my favorite, so analyzing their motivation is fun for me! Also, this is rather unrelated, but I think I saw you mention in some other comments that you don't understand all the Peridot and Lapis hate. Personally, I don't think it's really "hate". Part of liking a person, real or fake, is acknowledging their flaws, in my opinion. Just because people say a character has done something messed up doesn't mean they can't like them! Like, yeah, Peridot has done some really bad things, but she's my favorite character! They would both be boring if they were perfect little angels, imo. Which is, of course, why it's also important to acknowledge Jasper's flaws. I'll admit that she has quite a few and has done bad things, but it's her thought process and motivation that really interests me, and I have to admit that it peeves me a bit when people act like her (or any character, for that matter - Lapis, Peridot, anyone) are completely evil and one-dimensional.
Again, late to the party and just now having watched the episode:
Muscle waifu is lonely and just wants some company.... stop being mean to her!!!
Strong In The Real Way wrote: Again, late to the party and just now having watched the episode:
Muscle waifu is lonely and just wants some company.... stop being mean to her!!!
Truth.
Well, now having watched the rest of the episodes I can at least say I am happy she found some pets for company.