What Peridot Lacks

You know, with the recent revelations that Peridot is, in her own way, “defective,” bounds can be shown about her character up to this point.

She has known her entire life that she is “worse.” She’s built her entire identity on it.

She blames this on the lack of resources. Which is why the original Earth plan…

…was so appealing to her. She even mentions the potential gem production!

And it’s also why Yellow Diamond’s refusal to take advantage of all the resources Earth has…

…was such a huge shock to her.

She uses her technology to cope with being “inferior.”

…Which is why losing her limb enhancers hurt her so much.

…And why the “replacements” for her technology matter so much to her.

She places all her self worth in these things, this “technology” that is what makes era-2 peridots, well, anything. At least by Homeworld’s standards.

She is learning a lot from Steven and the gems: self worth is one of them. She feels better about herself around the gems, I think, because they’re all “defective” too.

She mocks them all for these things and clings to Amethyst, because she’s the only one that is “correct.” She is what Homeworld says is a great gem. AND she is defective in one way… just like Peridot sees herself as.

As Peridot learns more about each gem’s “defect,” she comes to appreciate all of them more: she sees them ALL as similar to her.

And she sees how they aren’t really “defective” at all.

This is basically what Amethyst is trying to tell her at the end of Too Short to Ride.

…But Peridot still doesn’t believe it about herself. Because she doesn’t see anything special to make with herself despite her defects without all her technology, unlike everyone else.

…Until now.