Now, I know a lot of you are going to be pretty skeptical and given this is also my first post and the nature of the internet it’s completely understandable. Here goes nothing.

I think there could be a strong possibility that Lapis Lazuli was a spy for Blue Diamond (yes we’re going to ride on the bandwagon that there are three [possibly four] separate diamond groups: Yellow, White and Blue [Maybe pink] – try to ride with me). BUT, contrary to another similar theory on reddit, she is no longer a spy - at least that is no longer her main motive during the episodes we see her in Season One of Steven Universe.

There are a lot of possibilities, and I’m going to attempt to go over what I can in this post. The point is to provoke thought over the character and plot. Be warned, it is long winded.

The Theory and Why

So what’s the reasoning for Lapis being a spy?

To start, here is the scene from “Ocean Gem” that ignited this idea for me:

“So, Lapis made it off planet.”

“What does this mean for us?”

“We wait and see.”

These words can be taken as the two pondering what the recent happenings will outcome for them, after all it was a pretty unexpected turn of events. At the same time the words have a more ominous tone alluding to how they might know more than what’s being said.

There was the Gem War after all.

Let’s consider this: the gems that the Mom Squad and Steven fight and bubble back to the temple used to be just like them as revealed in “Ocean Gem” by Amethyst (and also confirmed when we see the Centipeetle Mother reform after being released from the bubble for the first time in “Monster Buddies” – the Centipeetle briefly takes the form of a person before becoming the form it takes for the rest of the episode). Pearl divulges that they have become corrupted and they can’t help them anymore except by subduing them. Judging from what we have seen bubbled in the Burning Room in multiple episodes, there were quite a bit of gems (and probably still are a lot left) on earth. Also remembering that there is the Gem Homeworld to consider as well as the Gem Battlefield, (not to mention the Kindergarten - and they imply there were more than one) to put it bluntly: there were a lot freakin’ gems in this war.

Why does this matter? If Lapis was a spy or some sort of informant she would have been a main player in this truly massive conflict.

The idea is this: Lapis has a blue diamond on her clothing, indicating she could have been working for or under Blue Diamond (similar to how Peridot and Jasper have the yellow diamond on their clothing). By this and under the other given circumstances we can infer she was a possible spy for Blue Diamond.

Why was she in the Mirror? That was the tool of her espionage in this case. The mirror can play back to the viewer everything it views. Whatever it is Lapis has seen, Blue Diamond now has access to it through the mirror. Whether she was put in it willingly or unwillingly is unknown yet due to her desperation to get out of the mirror, it could be possible that it was unwillingly (her questioning the Crystal Gems as to why they didn’t set her free indicates she possibly didn’t want to be there in the first place). For the time being and for the sake of this theory we will assume it was with her consent to be put in the mirror at first.

Under either circumstance the mirror ended up at the Galaxy Warp and eventually the Crystal Gems found it. There are two methods as to which how this could have happened:

1) The mirror was placed there almost immediately. The Galaxy Warp is a prime place where many people of many different allegiances would have passed through – a good way to see where different groups may be headed in a time of war.

OR

2) It ended up there after some time. It could have been dropped or left behind, or maybe even Lapis tried convincing someone to leave it there as an effort to make it home.

While the first option is plausible in its own right, (there are many warp pads at the Galaxy Warp) the second is backed up with more evidence. When Pearl first gives Steven the mirror she talks about it as if she’s used it before and even goes on to try to activate it. When it doesn’t work she decides that, “It must finally be Broken” implying that she’s used it before and it is somewhat old. Where or when she used it is unknown but there is a possibility that it was before it resurfaced at the Galaxy Warp. Pearl may have used it directly after they found it but there’s a strong implication against that in what Pearl says to Steven when she shows and gives him the mirror.

Questions regarding the Theory:

Why did Lapis desperately want to get out of the mirror in “Mirror Gem”?

Let’s face it, while the gems are thousands of years old and Lapis is certainly no different, I have a feeling (albeit just a feeling) that imprisonment and solitude are viewed and felt the same way as humans, which is all around pretty terrible. Lapis was probably extremely lonely in the mirror and solitude for that long of a time was testing her sanity, not to mention her gem was cracked. While she may have gone in the mirror for the cause of Blue Diamond, she certainly didn’t plan on staying in there very long, at least not longer than she had to.

Did the Crystal Gems (excluding Steven) know that Lapis was trapped within the Mirror?

This is a question of hot debate all over the internet, and everyone seems to have their own idea and reasoning as to why they are right. While still playing off of the idea of this theory, personally, here is what I think:

While we see her accusing the Crystal Gems as if they knew she was in there but didn’t do anything about it, the truth is they didn’t know she was in there.

Let’s face it, If the Crystal Gems knew that Lapis was in the mirror and could communicate and transfer information as she turned out to be able to do, why the hell did Pearl show let alone give Steven the mirror unless she unwittingly thought that it was simply a gem powered tool that was going to actually help him learn about the gem’s past. Pearl is far more cautious than that with Steven as we we’ve all seen in plenty of episodes. It is possible Pearl didn’t know Lapis was in there and was going off of her own knowledge. If anyone at all knew she was in there, my guess would be Garnet. She was the one to try to get it away from Steven but then again, it was most likely simply her reacting to Amethyst asking her to do something.

Then why did the Gems act so adversely to when the mirror started “talking” to Steven and try to take it from him?

Well they are the mom squad. Their reaction to when they saw the mirror first talking back to Steven sums it up.

They had no idea it had this capability, particularly Pearl who was certain that it should only “be following orders”. The fact that this gem powered item (with a cracked gem at that) was talking to Steven and Steven alone definitely confused them, and from this confusion came fear. They desperately have tried to keep Steven safe from the awful threats posed to not only the Gems but to entirety of Earth (to the point that they have concealed quite a bit of information from Steven). The fact that this was the one to get away terrifies them because they truly don’t know its intentions. This is why they fight back when Lapis attacks them after she is released.

Wait, what was that?

Lapis attacks them first.

Sure, when they arrived they had their weapons ready, but lapis was the one to attack first. Fearing Steven in more danger than before, they go on the defense and tell him to run.

THEN WHY DID I SAY THEY KNEW MORE TOWARDS THE BEGINNING OF THIS POST?

Because Lapis shouldn’t have been the only spy in a war that large.

Chances are there were many other agents that were trying to get their fair share of the information for their side. There must have been plenty of methods that different spies tried using to get what they needed, the mirror being one in a long list of possibilities. The gems must have realized at some point during the course of “Mirror Gem” and “Ocean Gem” that she was a possible agent which is what caused the conversation between Garnet and Pearl (shown towards the beginning of this post). If Lapis was spying on them, then they had a lot to fear from the Homeworld.

Why did Lapis attack first and why does she tell Steven not to trust the Crystal Gems?

My best guess (while still trying to connect it to this theory) is that something may have happened with older Crystal Gems (possibly some that were killed in the Gem War) and she no longer trusts the group. What has she seen them do through the mirror? Maybe it’s because they are the remnants of the “rebel scum” who took down Blue Diamond (if she still holds allegiance to her)? She may have thought because of their allegiance they would try to put her back in the mirror or even kill her. Acting accordingly, she attacked first.

Truthfully your guess is as good as mine, but this is what I’ve got right now.

ANOTHER BUT NO LESS IMPORTANT POSSIBILITY

So here’s another possible idea: Lapis was a spy for the Crystal Gems (oh damn!).

The design on the mirror is at least somewhat similar to the design made by the flare sent out by Peridot’s escape pod, as well as the design made in the crop field (noticed by Garr9988 on the Mirror Wiki page). The idea is that she was found out, captured and imprisoned by the Diamonds in the mirror as a “banishment”. The blue diamond on her dress was to fit in with those followers of Blue Diamond as her disguise.

The Crystal gems could have betrayed her which would seem unlike them unless they felt she betrayed them first. This would explain why they didn’t do anything to get her out of the mirror and why Lapis seems to have trust issues with the Crystal Gems. It also could have happened before the current Crystal Gems.

Or as another brief idea, she could have been a criminal and was imprisoned in the mirror as punishment.

Food for thought.

To Wrap Things Up

This post is mainly meant to be thought provoking which I hope it successfully did. If you agree with the central idea of this theory, sweet! If not, then that’s sweet too! I tried backing up points as much as possible but I’ll be the first to admit there are holes and gaps here and there. Feel free to post additional thoughts, ideas, etc. Hope you enjoyed it!