YMMV / Steven Universe: Future S1E19 "I Am My Monster"

• Catharsis Factor: Nearly everyone in this episode (except Connie, who has never hurt Steven in any way, unless one counts her weeks-long Silent Treatment estrangement from him during the fifth season), acknowledges how they either directly or indirectly hurt Steven and helped contribute to his mental breakdown. From Greg acknowledging his unintentional Parental Neglect, the Crystal Gems realizing their inability to realize how much pain Steven was in and how much they've used Steven as a dumping ground for their own issues, to the Diamonds and Spinel pointing out how much they knowingly hurt Steven with their actions. White Diamond especially takes the blame for every bad thing that happened in the series, pointing out how her abuse of Yellow, Blue, and Pink led to every member of Gem society suffering, Yellow and Blue abusing Pink themselves, Pink abusing Spinel, and so on. After that, Connie bluntly agrees with everyone on how they've hurt Steven and then gets them to understand that wallowing in self-pity is not how they're going to help him get out of his meltdown, helping prevent them from going down the same path he did and helping them move forward from their mistakes.
• I Knew It!:
  • There were many people who guessed in advance that the giant monster in the intro was Steven in a corrupted form.
  • Also a few fan-animatics on Youtube suggested Connie nuzzling and/or kissing Monster!Steven and he'd return to normal.
• Salvaged Story:
  • This is arguably the biggest example of this trope by finally acknowledging how Steven's trauma and degrading mental health were the result of years of being traumatized and being used as an emotional crutch by nearly everyone around him. Steven's friends and family are forced to own up to how they directly or indirectly hurt him regardless of their good intentions (like Greg and the Crystal Gems) or if they've undergone a Heel–Face Turn (the Diamonds and Spinel) and must step forward to help him.
  • In hindsight, this is one of the few times a big mess isn't caused by Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz's actions. While she was a flawed and complicated character, she never asked nor wanted Steven to fix her mistakes or saving the universe. All what she wanted is that her own son would live his own life as a human being, something that she was keen to clarify multiple times thanks to her VHS. The idea of turning him into a Kid Hero by making him fight monsters, stop a "so many millenia war", fix everyone's problems and gem-sitting was ALL the Crystal Gems' doing.
  • Despite that they've now started redeeming themselves for their past atrocities, the Diamonds and Spinel must now redeem themselves to Steven personally because of all the pain they caused him. For those who still argued they were a Karma Houdini, seeing the four vocally acknowledge their actions were the main source of Steven's unhappiness and the unhappiness of everyone in the series proper, it can now be said the Diamonds and Spinel are fully redeemed.
  • Connie being the one person to call everyone out and rouse them into moving forward to help Steven feels especially appropriate as she was one of the first people he ever helped while she never forced her issues onto him or expected him to be anyone but himself.

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