orig post: SEP 2014

man, the more i think about Steven the Swordfighter, the more i realize how absolutely brilliant everything about that scene was in execution...

let's begin with the fight itself. 
a fight that, while real, is nothing more than abrupt stunt to please steven. pearl's really selfless, yknow? despite[or perhaps in line with] her nagging, i feel she's the group's protector; she only ever wants the best for everyone and thoroughly enjoys seeing them happy.
now we all know pearl's pretty darn impressive with a sword, and i don't think anyone expected her to lose the fight. and she didn't! she delivered the graceful duel that both steven and the audience were expecting. not surprising, but still quite satisfying.
even the music, while dynamic enough to fit the action going on, was calm, elegant, and gave the tone of expertise that let us know pearl wasn't in much danger of losing here. [compare that to the much more tense vibe later when steven's trying to evade holo-pearl]

and even though she knows she's good and displays some slight bravado during the fight, she still gets flustered when steven compliments her.
that isn't really important to this analysis, i'm just pointing it out because it's adorable.

so then the tutorial. again, because steven is so ecstatic about all this.
this is obviously second nature to pearl, and while her own professionalism keeps her focused regardless, she has no trouble redirecting her attention to be direct with steven. 
holo-pearl's voice even fades out a bit while she lectures since it's no longer an object of focus.
but that fateful 'THRUST!'...
that 'thrust' is so clearly and suddenly enunciated at, you know, the PERFECT MOMENT, only proving the truth and effectiveness of the technique she'd hadn't quite finished explaining.
literally nobody was expecting this. not pearl, not the audience, not steven, not even the other gems...but especially not pearl.
her reaction is what brings all this together. a strained groan rather than a scream of pain. it's shock more than anything, but she regains her composure quickly enough and then what does she do? she tries to remain calm. she hardly cares about being stabbed since she knows she can regenerate, because she also knows that steven DOES NOT know and that he's already [understandably]terrified at the sight of her being impaled. so in her sudden last moments, she tries to reassure him with a tone of 'it's alright, we all make mistakes'.  
and then, POOF. poof. that's it. she dies the same way all the gem-based monsters before her had. she doesn't even get to finish her sentence.  no slow fade or any sort of dramatic theatrics to give anyone time to react, just one instant and our friend is gone with the hollow clink of her gem hitting the ground. 
 not...quite as big of an explosion as other creatures, but i'd say a more gentle end to a more gentle being fits painfully well.

in retrospect, it's really...refreshing, in a sense, to see such a powerful death scene that's the complete opposite of dramatic. 

now my favorite part about this: holo-pearl is not some big bad enemy that you can truly be angry at, even after it adds insult to injury in stating "Challenger defeated, Level 1 failed."
this isn't something you can take revenge on; it isn't even something with motive or thought.
it was merely carrying out its 'programming'
and no matter how you spin it, it's steven's fault she was stabbed. 
and nobody wants to be angry at steven! he's every bit as shocked and shaken up as we are! in fact, i'd say his stammering is a near perfect copy of what i felt from those past few moments. 

and of course it had to be pearl that introduced us to this whole regeneration concept, since they only had one shot at the sudden character death thing. once it was explained subsequent 'deaths' wouldn't leave as much of an impact. [probably. I DO NOT WANT TO FIND OUT IF THAT HOLDS TRUE.] amethyst's the adventurous one who does things just because she -can-, and her defeat would have likely been almost comical, while garnet is the type that only takes impressive action when necessary, so her fall would have been more a moment of pure 'oh shit'. 
but pearl. pearl is passionate; she strives to be the best she can at everything she does--so how ironic that she'd be blindsided and taken down by acts meant for one with no skill, by something incapable of having passion.
that's the major kicker here, really
she was cheated
-we- were cheated
this is not the defeat she deserved. 
this isn't valiant or fulfilling or heated. all those kinds of deaths would have been effective, but they are also expected.
this simply took full advantage of a fantastic setup to deliver a critically shocking blow that pierced not only pearl's heart, but our own.

so major props to the people behind SU for really driving this home as hard as possible, and also fuck you for sTABBING ME IN THE GODDAMN HEART YOU BASTARDS

please continue being incredible <3