Why didn't the Crystal Gems just form Alexandrite right here and clean house...

Why didn't the Crystal Gems just form Alexandrite right here and clean house? I know that they couldn't touch the Green Diamond ship, but Alexandrite could have easily poofed Jasper and Peridot.

They would have just become an easier target for the ship capable of firing giant ass lasers

how would a laser even damage them though? gem physical forms are light constructs

why do the power rangers always fight one on one before forming the big robot

If the rangers go straight to Megazord, there is no episode.

Then they couldn't have sung the lesbian song, silly.

>Green Diamond

mang wat

Forming Alexandrite is hard and takes a lot of energy and focus, plus they didn't know why homeworld was there or what they were up against
Also I thought Peridot was able to control ship systems remotely?

why would a sword damage light?

but they straight fired a cannon at the ship before even askinga question

I want to believe if Garnet doesn't initiate it, they won't do it because Garnet would know if it doesn't pan out.

They fused into Alexandrite when they knew what they were up against, and were in the middle of the ocean where only the melon Stevens were and they evacuated real quick. They then proceed to have a huge wrecking throw down.

I imagine that if they formed Alexandrite at Beach city, there would have been a lot of collateral damage-- not to be evacuated town which they were okay with-- but the temple would have been at risk.

because gigant monster on moster fights arent visually appealing unless you can blow million of dollars on extreme detail or have really talented people in your team

>They didn't know why homeworld was there or what they were up against

I think it's fairly obvious that even if they didn't know why they were there EXACTLY, they did know that the diamonds would probably kill them. Unless it had something to do with garnet's future vision, there was no reason for them to not form alex

gems never gave two fucks about colateral damage, there is a whole episode about it
plus the city was evacuated

>garnets future vision
so garnet future vision cant see fusion spliting technology being used on her?

If they can all shape shift, why don't they use it more often in combat?

Because the show's logic is bad and the planning for the series only goes as far as basic beats for an overall goal and with little details being thought of along the way.

What I mean is that even though that makes total fucking sense they probably wanted to save Alex fight for Malachite to have a giant fight so they decided to make the Gems incompetent in this episode and get easily manhandled by Jasper even though every episode after that shows her being blown the fuck out by everyone including fucking Steven.

>But she had a de-stabilizer!

I'd like to think Pearl and Amy could have taken her on, even with Garnet out of the picture. They managed to do so with Peridot and Jasper didn't do any material arts that was more skilled than her, all she did was jab and poof Garnet.

But again, the characters intelligence and skill level fluctuate according to who the writers need to "win" at the time.

garnet has an extreme bdsm kink thats why it happened

>"I can see options and trajectories. Time is like a river that splits into creeks or pools into lakes or careens down waterfalls. I have the map, and I steer the ship."
The phrase is kinda bullshit, but she probably didn't know HW had anti-fuse tech so she didn't know to be wary of it.

It seems like more of a cheap trick than anything useful, though Amethyst makes very good use of it. I saw a theory where her being overcooked might've actually been intentional or at least unknowingly beneficial (due to something about how certain cuts change light, the gems being made of light) and it's why Amethyst is so good at fusion and can reform really fast (didn't take long after the Jasper battle, had no flaws upon reformation)
It was either used on her (with her friends being taken prisoner) or all of them (with Steven being the only one unpoofed and worried)

Because stay in your containment zone, you degenerate piece of shit.

Because they wanted to handle things diplomatically and they've taken out quartzes before. They just weren't anticipating a LITERALLY PERFECT QUARTZ armed with super high tech weapons completely with 4G and AMOLED screens.

They shot at the fucking ship with Opal before it even landed. They weren't ready to handle things diplomatically at all.

Because they only fuse when absolutely necessary, and they didn't need to.

so it was extremely unlikely for jasper to use the one weapon she has and is used all over the ship and is extremely useful on her?

>they didn't need to

THEN WHY THE FUCKING FUCK DID THEY FUCKING FORM FUCKING OPAL

They went for diplomacy after destruction was no longer an option. They've been on earth for quite a while and it was made clear the fear and confusion they had about modern gem tech.

why does rose say that only humans can change, grow and completely ignore their programing when amathyst is obviously capable of all those things to an extent we never see a single human do?

If it wouldn't damage them then why even have lasers on the ship?

Amethyst is a glitch, a mistake. Humans are SUPPOSED to grow and change and decide their own path.

>to an extent we never see a single human do?
I know fags in /sug/ like to ignore that Connie is a character but come on.

Because they needed to form Opal but they didn't need to form Alexandrite, simple as that. Quit being so hotheaded about this, geez, it's just a kid's show after all...

too hard to animate

What do you mean?

My headcanon is that the gems need to be in a good mental state to fuse. Which they weren't in that episode, later on in the series there are episodes which develop their relationships to let them form Alexandrite at will.

Funny you say that when the show still has had shit QA in that regard. Even in the current season I can still see the proportions being off when they change scenes or their limbs stretch out or shrivel up unintentionally. Whoever's animating SU needs to check for animation errors first before worrying about animating difficult scenes.

Wouldn't the destabilizer have just poofed Alexandrite?

connie isnt a character, she is a plot advancing tool
the show claims a gems purpose is in its nature while constantly showing the opposite, rose was wrong
future vision shows the most likely outcomes

the christal gems have been together for thousands of years

>Connie isn't a character shes a plot advancement tool

What a retarded statement

She probably meant I'm terms of society. Humans naturally grow up to be their own individual self, they get to "find" themselves and figure out what they want to be/ who they want to be. Gems are made, maybe taught, and then they're off to work, forever. Bismuth mentions that she had to build all her life until someone asked her what she wanted to build. Gems aren't emotionless robots but the don't naturally get the chance to find themselves. It's why the fee that have did so by chance. Rose found inspiration, Garnet found love, Pearl was dedicated to a rebellious gem, Amethyst was late to the war and objective-less, Lapis was shown compassion for once, Peridot saw value in what her once-respected leader wanted to get rid of out of spite. You've seen it yourself that all the other rubies do the same thing and act the same way. All the gems have the potential to change but with the authority hanging over them the rarely to never find the catalyst.

But you can't dispute that their relationships have improved since Steven was born. Just look how easily Pearl and Amethyst form Opal now.

>(didn't take long after the Jasper battle, had no flaws upon reformation)

She's had a twitchy right eye in every episode since then. Also half torn clothing.

>You've seen it yourself that all the other rubies do the same thing and act the same way
Not they don't? They all had individual personalities

Because Garnet thought she could handle them on her own, I guess her future vision didn't catch the destabilizer for some reason. As it turns out, without that, she could handle them on her own.

characters have feelings, goals and screw up just like humans do

Simple answer is of course plot convenience. Happens in every story.

For the lore answer, as we've seen holding together Alexandrite is much more difficult than any other fusion. Fusion can take it's toll on the individual consciousness that makes it up and the more minds there are messing around the harder to maintain it.

So if Steven hadn't intervened perhaps they would have thought to use it. They first attempted with Opal, had steven not shwon up garnet may have jumped in and they would have tried alexandrite.

But this is like asking why doesn't Batman just kill the joker. Enjoy the story and move on .

And they've been coat-tailing on Rose for the majority of that millennia rather than working with each other. This is the first thing that's revealed in this damn show, I know it's a cliche to say "watch the show" but goddamn, Watch The Show. Or read a Wiki or something.

but jasper was born fighting

ahahha Opal

>Why didn't the Crystal Gems just form Alexandrite right here and clean house?

Why don't they form Alexandrite in EVERY fight?

user what do you think important characters do? Sit in shallow water untol their socks are wet enough to change the setting? Characters move the plot forward.
They were the last soldiers of a dead resistance, they're all each other had, and they didn't often have therapy sessions. Garnet didn't know about Amethyst's problems, or about Pearl's dependency problems. Pearl didn't know Amethyst hated her roots. The gems didn't have any reason to actually learn about each other more then they already did, they were busy cleaning up the scraps of war. Steven as a compassionate half-human who can understand emotions matter as well helped them clear the air one way or another.

Well that was explicity because Zordon told them not to in the first episode and dozens of seasons later that continues, I dont think the gems are under those orders

because this show sucks and the writing is as transparent as OP's mom's glass dildo.

they spent thousand of years together they should know more about each other or give such a tiny fuck about each other that fixing it in a couple years seems impossible

>no they don't?
Are you asking? In any case they're heavily similar. And they especially were in the past when Ruby formed with Sapphire.

but the SUCrew doesn't do the animation, it's the koreans, who seem to have no limits . Also shape shifting is fucking useless in combat considering Amy gets BTFO every time she tries to become her wrestler form.

Well, it wasn't an invisible sword. Therefore, it affects light.

it relys on plot twists that come out of nowhere and arent forshadowed at all, whenever something is foreshadowed i always figure it out because its too blatant, instead of good writing or characteristaion

It isn't that they were simply distant companions, but all their issues were bottled up. They figured they'd known each other well enough. People know their friends as well as they do without having to pry into their insecurities.

no you idiot, she doesnt aknowledge the existence of the weapon so she can see that on her future vision.

>they spent thousand of years together they should know more about each other

Yeah, emotionally stunted aliens who have spent thousands of years performing their last mission should totally be in touch with their feelings and emotions and relationships.

user this show is for kids what level of mystery are you looking for?

Navy was far more jovial than Eyeball, who far more focused than Leggy, and so on. They had a variety of dissimilar personalities and were only united in all being dumb as hell.

are you really making that argument? really? or is this low quality bait?

people dont know their friends for thousands of years
i have seen far better, take over the garden wall for example

It's threads like these that make me wonder why Sugar bothers making any character development at all in the show.

Alexandrite was still a fairly new concept at that point, and the gems were even unsure how long they could stay formed, let alone use it to fight. We had to go through Amethyst's self confidence boost, Garnet and Pearl's fall out and subsequent better understanding of each other, and Steven's character growth that makes the gems more assured of themselves. It's all pretty well written and spelled out to show how far they've all come between Alexandrite's initial debut and her first battle. She is a representation of the team's emotional health after all.

I don't care who's animating the show, I just said "whoever's animating SU". Those Koreans are fucking sloppy as shit if they can't do these basic things or maybe they just aren't paid for it.

steven was there and alexandrite is very destructive; the time it would've taken to fuse would have given jasper and company enough time to perhaps fuse themselves/retreat back to the ship (and probably use it as a weapon against her)/otherwise prepare that you know they would've put up a fight. the resulting fight would have definitely caused some damage that none of them would want steven in now that they knew he was there. also garnet kinda just rushed at jasper so they probably weren't thinking about forming alexandrite anyway

I'm not saying that because it's for kids it can be shitty and bulletproof of criticism, but it's a (mostly) light-hearted feel-good show where there's not much need for heavy mystery and hidden clues. The ones that are obvious may be less obvious to kids.
People also don't get to know their friends better if they think they already know them. Over the Garden wall has a different tone than Steven Universe.