How the “SHE’S GONE” scene proves Rose loved Steven more than anything and reaffirms that love, without bringing her back in any sense
I know a lot of people really love the idea that Rose came back, in that brief moment, to hug Steven and reaffirm her love for him, and some even think they hear a feminine laugh in that scene (which… no. It’s Zach callison layered over himself). I’m not going to say “your theory is incorrect” but, I am going to say, “your theory lacks substancial evidence to back it” and offer and alternative to you guys, just because I feel like if you think it’s Rose, you miss a lot of what’s important to that scene. But the fact is, it still does reaffirm and show her love to Steven.
Why is Rose being gone for good so important? Because it relieves Steven of the biggest burden and painful question he’s been asking and carrying over and over: who am I?
He believed this entire time, that he was just his mom running from her mistakes, from her problems. But when he sees that he’s just… himself, it’s pure relief and self love. He isn’t his mom’s mistakes. He isn’t her hiding from her problems. He isn’t anything, except Steven, except himself.
That’s the key to this scene.
But how does that reaffirm Rose’s love for him?
Well, it’s simple. It shows that she really, truly gave up everything, just to make him. Just to love him. That she didn’t mean for him to exist to fix her problems, that she isn’t just hiding from them through him, or living through him. She just wanted one thing, and one thing only- for him to exist, to be happy. That’s how Rose’s love manifests. Not as her coming back- and proving every bad thing Steven believed about himself if she did- but as her staying gone, and proving she was genuine about her intentions and her love for him.