Pearl's Original Owner :hibiscus:

I've seen a few discussions about Pearl's original Diamond these days and I want to present a version of what I think about it.

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I believe that our Pearl was made for Pink Diamond and never "belonged" to any other Diamond.

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The common counter-theory:

◇◇White Diamond and Pink Diamond swapped Pearls.◇◇

Why people think this:

1. Other Pearls we've met match the Gem they were made for in color and Gem placement

2. Our Pearl's Gem placement matches White's, while White's Pearl's Gem placement matches Pink's

3. We now know as of the flashback in "Together Alone" and the restoration of White's Pearl to her pink color in "Change Your Mind" that White's Pearl definitely used to be Pink's

4. Pearl once mentioned that she "was given" to Pink Diamond, without specifically mentioning that she was made for her

5. She has white or very light skin, and overall color of a Pearl tends to match her owner

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Here are the reasons I believe our Pearl never belonged to White Diamond, was in fact made for Pink Diamond and never "belonged" to any other Diamond, and was simply a replacement for Pink's first Pearl after she was taken away:

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==1==

Rebecca Sugar has said in many interviews and statements that a Gem's Gemstone placement tells you something about their personality.

We can conclude that Pink Diamond's original Pearl, with her belly Gem, probably had a similarly silly personality, which may have irritated the other Diamonds into thinking Pink Diamond was being enabled and encouraged by her silly servant.

Gems with forehead Gem placements are, in contrast, intellectual and practical. (We've seen this is true of our Pearl, and Peridot--and though White Diamond was wrong about everything, she valued the MENTAL instead of the emotional.)

A while back, when the Art and Origins book came out, a timeline of Gem history was included in a photograph, but most of it was unreadable. One line that's pretty readable has been analyzed since then:

"A new, more sensible Pearl is custom made and delivered to Pink."

So even back when this came out years ago, we had inklings that Pink Diamond once owned a different Pearl, and a "more sensible" Pearl replaced her. This fits in perfectly with Pearl's forehead Gem and the original Pink Pearl being taken away (presumably as punishment).

==2==

There is so far no suggestion in any of Pearl's behavior or dialogue that she once belonged to White.

After spending so much time keeping secrets and then finally being freed of her gag order, you'd think she'd be excited to reveal any other relevant information. But Pearl doesn't have any special reaction to White Diamond suggesting she used to "belong" to her, and White Diamond also has no special acknowledgment of our Pearl as if she was once her Pearl.

Really, the MAIN reasoning behind people's theory that Pearl belonged to White is about her Gem placement. And it does seem like a very Diamond-y thing to do: make Pearls that match in color and placement, personally feeling that their own Gem placement is a superior one.

But Pink, somewhat unique among the Diamonds, is condescended to and punished like a baby, having her toys taken away and being threatened with unpleasant consequences for acting out her desires.

It is absolutely consistent with the other Diamonds' attitude toward Pink Diamond that they would snatch her Pearl as a punishment and replace her with someone SENSIBLE--someone who won't indulge her silliness, someone who will keep to orders, someone who is a lot less like Pink Diamond than her original Pearl was.

(Joke's on them 'cause the "sensible" Pearl fell in love with her Diamond and ed her in a rebellion but hey, that's neither here nor there.)

It's certainly puzzling to see that the first and second Diamonds we met had Gem placements that matched their Pearls, while we were to understand that Pink's Pearl had White's Gem placement and vice versa. But to be fair, we can't assume Gem placement matching one's Diamond is a "rule." We have a sample size of two. That's too small to make conclusions about.

I don't really have a theory as to whether White just didn't have a Pearl before, but she may not have really needed one if her way of "using" the Pearl was to simply possess her and jerk her around like a marionnette. If she can literally do that to any Gem anytime, she doesn't exactly need willing servants. It may have been a way of presenting an ongoing warning to Pink Diamond, having to see what happened to a Pearl she was clearly close to because of her "bad" behavior.

==3==

Tying into the above, our Pearl being multiple different colors suggests she was made from the essence of all four Diamonds--intended as a balanced Pearl who wouldn't be as much like Pink Diamond.

The other Diamonds surely thought putting THEIR influence into a Pearl would be a positive influence on Pink Diamond--unlike Yellow and Blue's Pearls, who are close to monochromatic and extremely reflective of their owners' personalities. White, Blue, and Yellow certainly think THEIR personalities instilled in a Pearl are good things, while Pink's personality for a Pearl is at best unhelpful, at worst a corrupting influence.

Pink was a Diamond, so they wouldn't have wanted her to do without the proper servants and coddling a Gem matriarch should have, but I could absolutely see them making her this multicolored Pearl and giving her to her, to be perceived as both an upgrade and a warning.

==4==

And finally, well . . . Joe Johnston has stated straightforwardly on his blog, while answering questions, that our Pearl was MADE FOR PINK DIAMOND.

If you don't know, Joe Johnston has been part of the Crewniverse since the show began, and he has always been in on the secrets about Pink Diamond and the story as it developed. He was a regular storyboarder for the first half of the show and a supervising director post-"Mr. Greg."

In other words, he's not a random person with theories about the show. He helps write it and has the inside story. I'm sure he knows the history of how and when and why Pearl was made. I don't believe he's mistaken or being careless with his words there.

Some might argue that this is still fair game to theorize about if the conclusion hasn't been established on the show. To some extent I agree that creators can't really write a show and then tell people outside the show how they're meant to interpret it. If they want us to get it, it should be in the show.

But with a show like this, with so many moving parts, sometimes they probably don't realize what's unclear onscreen until the audience is still buzzing about it even after THEY felt they revealed something. Just look at the weird interpretations of Steven's Gem half ("Pink Steven"), where people were still saying Steven is Pink Diamond or that the Pink half of him is actually his mom. Steven is Steven and Pink is gooooone. They said that so clearly and people still responded to it with "So . . . you meant the opposite of that, right?"

In other words, I don't want to take the wind out of people's sails or spoil the fun they're having theorizing, and I don't think people are stupid if they don't know the things I've learned (because, in fairness, I pay way too much attention to supplementary materials), but if you really do want to know the real answer to these mysteries about the story these people wrote? You should probably accept what they say when they straight-up answer you.

What we still don't know is how our Pearl's early days with Pink Diamond were, how long she had no Pearl, whether she treated our Pearl as a new toy or more like a puppy replacing a dead dog too soon, and what really goes into making Pearls in the first place. There's still plenty to theorize about regarding Pearl that hasn't been spelled out, and I bet it's hella interesting.

But as far as I'm concerned, we've been very clearly told that our Pearl was made for Pink Diamond, and that certainly implies she never served White Diamond directly. It's also true that White Diamond taking Pink Diamond's Pearl does not imply that Pink Diamond took White's Pearl.

Okay, thanks for reading! :heart: