Sworn to the Sword

"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 and was watched by 1.980 million viewers. The episode was written and storyboarded by Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu.

The episode 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

The episode begins with Steven (Zach Callison) tuning his ukulele while Connie (Grace Rolek) is tuning her violin as they proceed to sing "The Jam Song". Upon finishing the song, Steven spreads some jam on a biscuit. Suddenly, a group of seagulls begin assaulting Steven and trying to steal his biscuit, but Connie fends them off by swinging at them with her violin bow. Steven praises Connie on being such a good sword-fighter. Flustered, she explains that she isn’t, but she'd love to learn how to use a sword. Steven then comes up with an idea to ask Pearl (Deedee Magno Hall) to train Connie.

Steven brings Connie to Pearl, who is initially hesitant about teaching someone as young as Connie. Connie passionately explains that she wants to fight alongside Steven and protect the Earth, convincing Pearl. She takes them to the Ancient Sky Arena for training and explains the significance of the Arena. She hands Connie a sword whilst explaining the concept of being a Knight; compared to Steven (her liege), Connie is nothing more than a protector. She then summons Holo-Pearl, the holographic version of herself introduced in Steven the Sword Fighter, which spooks Steven and causes him to form his bubble by reflex, but he soon deactivates it and steps to the side for Connie to start. As the training begins and progresses, Pearl and Connie sing the song "Do it for Her". Pearl's lyrics focus on her dedication to Rose Quartz during the Gem War, relating it to the level of dedication Connie must have for Steven. Throughout the montage, Steven seems to be uncomfortable with Pearl's emphasis on self-denial, and Connie greatly improves her sword-fighting ability.

Steven tries to talk to Connie about his discomfort. However, before they can have a discussion, Pearl warps away with Connie for another lesson. Amethyst (Michaela Dietz) and Garnet (Estelle) emerge from the Temple and Amethyst asks Steven what's wrong. After he explains his feelings to them about how Pearl's lessons are getting dangerous for Connie, Garnet expresses understanding and talks to Steven how Pearl recklessly risked her life many times for Rose, and that it makes sense that Pearl is training Connie to do the same for Steven. Steven then warps himself to the Arena to try to stop Connie, but arrives to find the Arena covered in fog.

Steven enters the fog to try to find Connie, but stumbles upon a Holo-Pearl. Connie appears and stabs it to save Steven, who then saves her from another Holo-Pearl, convincing her that she doesn't need to fight alone on his behalf, and they can be a team. Four more Holo-Pearls show up and Steven summons both his shield and bubble, which deflect their attacks and defeat them. Pearl clears the fog and scolds Steven for interfering. She insists that Connie fight her on her own, but Connie and Steven refuse, and engage Pearl in combat together. Pearl is surprised at first and they seem to have the upper hand; however, she soon overcomes her surprise, knocking Connie and Steven back. Steven and Pearl argue, causing Pearl to have a breakdown after mixing up Steven and Rose's names in a heated exchange. As Pearl sits dejectedly on the edge of the Sky Arena, Steven and Connie apologize and comfort her. After a brief conversation, she calms down, comes around to their viewpoint, and exclaims that they will both make 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 1.980 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] Sarra Sedghi of Paste listed "Do It For Her" as the second best song of the shows first two seasons, behind "Stronger Than You".^[6]

References