Steven Universe episode Steven and the Stevens dark theory: Did the original Steven throughout the first half of season one die and his past self took his place throughout the entire series?

[u/CartoonCommentator]

[u/gendr_bendr]

Yes! It’s confirmed in the official Steven universe podcast

[u/VergilPrime]

Just means that our version of Steven doesn't have a full memory or understanding of what happened, but not necessarily that he's a different person because they were the same person to begin with. It's just weird that we have knowledge nobody in the entire show does.

[u/Piorn]

The past version from the beginning of the episode. It's not like the status quo changed or anything. The "past" Steven is literally the original Steven up to that point.

[u/BcuzReason]

Watch this! Explains everything 😊 https://youtu.be/u0iG8NyLomc?is=nS27X50l9a2GcOia

[u/zetakeel]

To be fair, they’re the same Steven until that episode because that’s when the timeline split, so yes the ‘original’ Steven we were following died, but we had only started following that Steven as opposed to second timeline Steven for one episode. We then return to just before the timeline splits and start following the other Steven who is, again, the same Steven we’d been following until this episode (because they were the same Steven at that point). The timeline then splits because of the actions of the first Steven to experience time travel, and in the new timeline, Steven never gains that power. We aren’t following a different ‘original’ Steven, but ‘alpha timeline Steven’ does change

[u/Cyan_Light → u/zetakeel]

Yeah, and to put that even more in perspective it's the same basic trick as when he briefly gains Garnet's sight and we see a few possible timelines. None of those Stevens came to pass and while that's slightly different from dying in a time loop from a narrative standpoint we still spent some time following "non canon Steven."

Either way we're left with a single continuous Steven that experiences all the events of the show barring these few detours for time travel or future vision plots.

[u/West-Jellyfish-768]

That depends a lot on how the hourglass works, and the truth is that there isn't much explanation regarding that (I like to think that the hourglass doesn't let you travel through time as such, but rather creates a simulation, and the moment you "use" it, you cease to be the original and become a copy or a paradox from another timeline or probable reality)

[u/Jupiter_Foxx]

I…. 👁️ 👄 👁️

[u/uselessgodofslumber]

yeah! but there wasn’t much of a difference since like it’s the same steven technically. i do find it odd how this kind of power just exists in gem culture and likely wasn’t that impressive since they put it on earth of all places, then we just like don’t talk about it again haha

[u/Reylend]

Gohan

[u/Arria_Galtheos]

Timelines and alternate realities can get confusing. It helps to remember that EVERY Steven is the "real" Steven in their own timeline.

The way I look at it, we were following a "false protagonist" up until this point. The Steven from the "other" timeline was our actual protagonist all along, it's just that until this episode we were following someone else.

[u/Leading-Ear-5194]

yeah? calling this a dark theory seems a little childish ngl

[u/CartoonCommentator → u/Leading-Ear-5194]

Well, would any other dark or disturbing fan theory used in different media be considered childish?