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Aug. 14th, 2026 06:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feotakahariI found some old Steven Universe ending salt, and it reminded me of Arknights salt (specifically the Kazimierz arc.) I think the SU salt was in some ways more justified, but I think both posters missed what the problem was.
In Arknights, Nearl was a champion "tournament knight" (read: gladiator), but she was kicked out of Kazimierz for allegedly being one of the Infected. She comes back at a time when the Infected are allowed to compete, and she beats the Infected knight Dikaiopolis to regain her championship. Then the Kazimierz higher-ups reveal she was never actually Infected, simultaneously undercutting both her and the Infected as a group.
The salt was over this reveal existing at all, saying it ruined the story if Nearl wasn't Infected. But I think the problem was that a story about an oppressed minority was diverted to be about someone who wasn't part of that minority. And Nearl, in-story, directs the focus back by walking alongside Dikaiopolis to the Champion's Hall. Arknights threaded the needle and made this reveal work, at least in my view.
The Steven Universe salt was over the reveal that Rose Quartz, a rebel against the oppressive Diamonds, was actually a Diamond herself. People said all the focus on and respect for characters who were considered "lesser" was pointless if the story was ultimately about "greater" characters fighting other "greater" characters with the "lesser" characters as window dressing. (You may recognize this as a complaint people make about Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader.) But I don't think SU said that only "greater" characters mattered. It said no matter who you are, you can still choose to turn against authority. Rose wholeheartedly chose the Rebellion despite her past crimes and lack of self-worth, simply because it was the right thing to do.
The problem SU faced was that it was fundamentally tied to Steven's POV, rather than the rotating POV of Arknights. That felt inadequate in the end, because the damage the Diamonds caused was so much bigger than any one character could address. But I think that problem was independent of who Rose was or wasn't, and it was more of a structural issue than a philosophical one.
In Arknights, Nearl was a champion "tournament knight" (read: gladiator), but she was kicked out of Kazimierz for allegedly being one of the Infected. She comes back at a time when the Infected are allowed to compete, and she beats the Infected knight Dikaiopolis to regain her championship. Then the Kazimierz higher-ups reveal she was never actually Infected, simultaneously undercutting both her and the Infected as a group.
The salt was over this reveal existing at all, saying it ruined the story if Nearl wasn't Infected. But I think the problem was that a story about an oppressed minority was diverted to be about someone who wasn't part of that minority. And Nearl, in-story, directs the focus back by walking alongside Dikaiopolis to the Champion's Hall. Arknights threaded the needle and made this reveal work, at least in my view.
The Steven Universe salt was over the reveal that Rose Quartz, a rebel against the oppressive Diamonds, was actually a Diamond herself. People said all the focus on and respect for characters who were considered "lesser" was pointless if the story was ultimately about "greater" characters fighting other "greater" characters with the "lesser" characters as window dressing. (You may recognize this as a complaint people make about Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader.) But I don't think SU said that only "greater" characters mattered. It said no matter who you are, you can still choose to turn against authority. Rose wholeheartedly chose the Rebellion despite her past crimes and lack of self-worth, simply because it was the right thing to do.
The problem SU faced was that it was fundamentally tied to Steven's POV, rather than the rotating POV of Arknights. That felt inadequate in the end, because the damage the Diamonds caused was so much bigger than any one character could address. But I think that problem was independent of who Rose was or wasn't, and it was more of a structural issue than a philosophical one.
