She’s Always Been Gone

gemproduction:

As much as I’ve thought, and wanted to think, contrarily over the course of this show, Rose has always been gone. I blissfully hoped that she was there, right by his side as he grew up. Seeing what he saw and feeling what he felt. Or that perhaps she was there at first, when he was still new—laying dormant like any other contained Gem—and that it was a gradual death as Steven took control of the life he was given. But the moment Rose became Steven changed her forever. She gave up….herself for him to become him. Right from the beginning. Steven isn’t an inanimate object, like Lapis’ mirror. He’s his own being with his own bright soul. There simply wasn’t room in his body for two.

Over the years, there was no one looking through Steven’s eyes, judging them in contempt. 
There was no one hiding inside him, deceptively choosing his fate. 
There was no one feeling anything for him or making him feel anything he didn’t want to.

It’s always been Steven’s eyes, Steven’s words, Steven’s heart. 

And that may sound bittersweet, and it is, but it’s the most wonderful thing the show could’ve possibly done for him. It’s always been him. Steven is no one but himself.