Sworn to the Sword (Steven Universe episode)

"Sworn to the Sword" is the sixth episode of the second season of American animated television series Steven Universe, which premiered on June 15, 2015 on Cartoon Network. The episode was written and storyboarded by Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu.

Steven Universe follows the adventures of a young boy named Steven and the three alien warriors Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, who are together known as the Crystal Gems. Their ultimate goal is to protect the Earth from colonization by other members of the Gem species. In the meantime, Steven must try to harness his own magical powers, which were inherited from Rose Quartz, his mother and the past leader of the Crystal Gems, while finding balance between being half-human and half-Gem.

"Sworn to the Sword" follows Steven's friend Connie as she takes up sword-fighting lessons with Pearl, so that Connie can protect Steven in combat. During the lessons, Pearl and Connie perform the song "Do It for Her", where Pearl compares her relationship with Rose Quartz to Connie's relationship with Steven.

Plot

At the start of the episode, Steven (Zach Callison) tunes his ukulele and sings "Jam Buds" with Connie (Grace Rolek), who plays her violin. Steven then prepares biscuits and jam for them. When a flock of seagulls try to steal a biscuit, Connie fends them off with her violin bow. Steven is impressed, but Connie expresses a desire to learn to wield a real sword. Recalling his previous sword-fighting lessons (from Steven the Sword Fighter), Steven suggests that they have Pearl (Deedee Magno Hall) teach Connie how to use a sword.

Initially, Pearl is hesitant about teaching Connie. However, she becomes excited by Connie's enthusiasm about protecting Steven and the Earth, and eventually takes Steven and Connie to the Ancient Sky Arena. She explains the human concept of knighthood and that Connie will serve as Steven's knight. Pearl then re-summons Holo-Pearl (the holographic version of herself introduced in Steven the Sword Fighter), who acts as a sparing partner for Connie's training. As Pearl begins to teach Connie about posture and motion, the two sing the song "Do It For Her". While Pearl's lyrics deal with her devotion to Rose Quartz, Connie forecasts a similar relationship between her and Steven. This level of dedication makes Steven uncomfortable; while Pearl was able to keep regenerating after sacrificing her physical form many times for Rose, Connie is mortal and therefore puts herself at a greater risk. However, Steven does not express these concerns, and Connie's skills advance rapidly.

Steven attempts to explain his discomfort to Connie, but before he can, Pearl pulls her away for another lesson. Garnet (Estelle) and Amethyst (Michaela Dietz) come out of the temple and inquire what's upsetting Steven as he reveals his feelings to them. He the pursues Connie and Pearl, whom he finds shrouded in a thick fog at the arena. As he stumbles through the fog, under attack from various Holo-Pearls, Steven summons his shield and begins to explain to Connie that he does not want to be her superior but instead to work as a team. The two fend off the Holo-Pearls together. Pearl rejects Steven's idea and tries to explain that Connie must protect Steven on her own, lest he be hurt in battle. Steven and Connie refuse to let this happen, and they engage Pearl in combat. The two groups continue to fight, culminating in Pearl referring to Steven as Rose—which make her realize that she has been projecting herself onto Connie. At the end, Pearl ultimately agrees that Steven and Connie should fight together and tells them that they will both be great knights.

Production

Episodes of Steven Universe are written and storyboarded by a single team. "Sworn to the Sword" was written by Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu, and directed by co-executive producer Ian Jones-Quartey, while Ki-Yong Bae and Jin-Hee Park provided animation direction, and Elle Michalka served as art director. The episode was the first to feature the series' updated title sequence, which shows the three main Crystal Gems in their contemporary outfit variations, and shows Connie wielding Rose Quartz's sword.^[1]

The costume Connie wears when she is training with Pearl has been likened to Gohan's keikogi in the Dragon Ball manga and anime.^[2]

Music

The episode features two songs, "Jam Buds" and "Do It For Her". Both songs were arranged by Aivi & Surasshu, the music team for the series. "Do It For Her" was written by series creator Rebecca Sugar and features vocals by Deedee Magno Hall (as Pearl) and Grace Rolek (as Connie). Jeff Ball plays violin and viola for the song.^[3] Sugar consulted Emily Walus, a layout artist for the show, for information about fencing, which she incorporated into the lyrics.^[4]

Themes

"Sworn to the Sword" highlights Pearl's relationship with Rose Quartz, for whom she had romantic feelings. In the episode, she becomes engrossed in using Connie and Steven as a representation for herself and Rose, respectively.^[2] Vrai Kaiser wrote for The Mary Sue that Connie and Pearl do share some traits; for example, they both "funnel their inherently passionate nature into identifying with romantic fictional ideals". In addition, both characters deal with some instability: for Connie, an "inferiority complex" and for Pearl a "mountain of unresolved grief". For Pearl, this instability betrays her "logical" facade; to Kaiser, that internal struggle invokes the character Spock from Star Trek. Critically, Pearl fails to acknowledge that unlike herself, Connie is a mortal—an oversight she also made with Steven in the episode "Space Race".^[2]

Eric Thurm, writing for The A.V. Club, notes that the episode undermines the series's overarching message about "caring for others". Pearl and Connie take that ideal "too far", according to Thurm, when Steven is presented not as an equal but as Connie's "liege".^[1]

Broadcast and reception

"Sworn to the Sword" premiered on Cartoon Network on June 15, 2015. Its initial American broadcast was viewed by approximately 1.98 million viewers. It received a Nielsen household rating of 0.42, meaning that it was seen by 0.42% of all households.^[5] The episode was the first in a "Steven Bomb", which refers to a programming schedule in which one new episode of Steven Universe airs daily during the regular work week.

The episode and the song "Do It for Her" received positive attention from critics. Eric Thurm called "Sworn to the Sword" "one of the show's best episodes" and "Do It for Her" "what might be the single best song on the show to date".^[1] Thurm was also impressed by the episode's subversion of fantasy tropes, which connects to Connie's interest in the fantasy genre.^[1]

References