Very long post under the cut, but I wanted to pick apart Connie’s change in attitude throughout Sworn to the Sword. She starts out so independent and enthusiastic, and Pearl manages to mold her into believing it’s the right thing to throw her life away for Steven. I wanted to analyze how exactly Pearl managed to make that monumental change happen.

“I want to be there for Steven to fight by his side!”



From the start, it’s a partnership between these two. It’s about taking on the world together, and protecting each other.

“My Liege.” “Ms. Knight.”



These are two 11 year olds having fun. They’re not taking Pearl’s idea of knighthood seriously, because they are friends and partners. The idea of Steven being a “liege” or Connie being his “knight” is ridiculous to both of them.

“Cool! Hologram Pearl!”



This is the first element of miscommunication. Steven knows Holo!Pearl has been trouble in the past, but he’s hesitant about being over-protective or ruining Connie’s fun. So he stays silent.

“You do it for him, and you’d do it again. You do it for her–that is to say, you’ll do it for him.”



Pearl is right up in Connie’s face, encouraging, guiding. She has Connie’s complete attention, and Connie’s letting her literally control her own movement. She’s accepting Pearl as a master and mentor. And she’s open to taking Pearl’s word as Gospel.

“Keep you stance wide. Keep your body lowered. As you’re moving forward, balance is the key.”



Both Steven and Connie are on board and excited about training. It’s still a fun exercise. Pearl’s slip about the him/her thing is a bit concerning, but so far her advice has been about movements and balance. Sound advice for important work.

“Right foot. Left foot. Now go even faster.”



“And as you’re moving backwards…”



“Keep your eyes on me.”



This. THIS. Here’s the first piece of uncertainty and intimidation that appears in the montage. The previous line was about moving forward! Balance! Now that Pearl has transitioned to “backwards” (being beaten back by the enemy, on the losing side, cornered) she’s instructing Connie to remain COMPLETELY focused on her. And Connie IS afraid. It makes sense by the second gif. The look in Pearl’s eyes is not the same as before, not the open and fun mentor she was. Pearl has gotten serious. Pearl has gotten scary.

“Keep my stance wide.” “Good.” “Keep my body lowered.” “Right.” “As I’m moving forward—“ “Concentrate!”

“Don’t you want him to LIVE?”



This is, I think, one of the hugest turning points for Connie. She was taking the battle seriously before. All narrowed eyes and focused. But she was treating it more like a sporting event—she was being trained to win, and she was trying to. But Pearl’s “Concentrate! Don’t you want him to LIVE?!” throws her way off balance. There’s genuine shock and concern in her eyes then. And she throws herself far more into it than before. She’s just been scolded by this master, who moments ago was praising her. And she was scolded for not taking the possibility of Steven’s death seriously enough. So she recalculates. She rebalances. And she throws herself back into it with far more fervor than before.

Steven alone can see the toxic exchange happening. He knows his life is not in real danger, but she can see both Connie and Pearl are acting like it is. Worse, Connie’s engaged herself in something Steven knows is dangerous (battling Holo!Pearl) for the idea of protecting him, when he’s on the sidelines doing nothing.

“Right foot. Left foot.”

“Yes, but put your whole BODY into it.”

This angle on Pearl is so unsettling. There’s anger, there’s intimidation in her body language. She’s still scolding Connie for not being into it enough. Not to mention the implications behind “put your whole body into it” when she’s essentially telling Connie to be a human shield.

“Everything you have, everything you are, you’ve got to give. On the battlefield, when everything is chaos, and you have nothing but the way you feel, your strategy, and a sword.”

“Just think about the life you’ll have together after the war!”

It goes without saying, but it’s so telling that Pearl is physically showing Connie and Steven these memories. She was at war. She was a soldier. And she’s showing these clips to kids because she believes, truly, that she is training one of them to be a disposable soldier like she was. Pearl’s careened into saying that Connie needs to literally give everything of herself for Steven. She’s implied already that Connie is nothing but a weapon, and if Connie cannot be that weapon, she’s failed Steven. And Pearl’s instructed her not to think about the fact that she’s reduced herself to nothing, and instead focus on this hypothetical “after.” Connie’s dedication will be repaid after. Connie’s willingness to throw away her life will lead to great things after. She needn’t question it now, because the reward will come after.

“And when you do it for her, that’s how you know you can win. You do it for her—that is to say, you’ll do it for him.”

The reactions here speak magnitudes. The tears in Steven’s eyes, for one. He’s just been shown a war zone. He’s just been shown his dead mother fighting. But worst of all, I think, he’s seen a person he cares about deeply in utter tatters, throwing herself into battle out of sheer self-sacrifice. Steven’s been following Pearl’s song. He knows she considered herself garbage, there only to protect Rose. This is, essentially, his parent. Someone he’s known since birth and cared for deeply ever since, and he just saw her attempt to throw her life away.

Then there’s the miscommunication again in the second gif. Steven is worried, as he’s been throughout most of the montage. But this is what galvanizes Connie. She did not see what Steven saw. She saw Pearl being brave and selfless in the heart of battle, and she’s determined now more than ever to live up to it.

“Deep down, you know you weren’t built for fighting.”



“But that doesn’t mean you’re not prepared to try.”



Connie’s injured, and it marks the first reemergence we’ve seen of that caring, motherly Pearl from the beginning. Pearl patches her up, lovingly and encouragingly. The injury is a GOOD THING. It means Connie is giving of herself, for Steven’s sake. It’s the first thing she’s received love and kindness since the beginning of training



“What they don’t know is your real advantage.”



“When you live for someone, you’re prepared to–



–die.”

This is probably the final transition in Connie’s attitude. She takes the juice box from Steven as if this were some normal training exercise. He smiles, she smiles, they’re on the same page. Then Pearl interrupts, and their opposite reaction to “die” drives it all home. Steven looks absolutely horrified at the notion. Connie on the other hand rises to the challenge. She puts the juice box down, untouched, because this is too serious a matter for something so childish.

“Deep down, I know that I’m just a human.” “True.” “But I know that I can draw my sword and fight!”

“With my short existence.” “Good.” “I can make a difference.” “Yes, excellent!” “I can be there for him! I can be his knight!”

Now Connie has started parroting Pearl’s nihilistic attitude. “Just” a human. “Short existence.” She’s not thinking about being Steven’s partner, or friend, or any of that. She’s thinking about how she can put her simple, useless human life to use for a better purpose. And Pearl, now more than ever, is ENCOURAGING it. “Good” “Yes, excellent!”

We’ve known since we first met Connie that she has self-esteem issues, especially in relation to Steven. “I’m going to die without ever making a single friend.” Connie. And to her, Steven is this powerful otherworldly thing whose legacy is saving the whole earth and whose destiny is of unimaginable magnitude. But Connie is…not that. Not any of that. She’s human. She’s nothing.

It takes A LOT to alieve deep-seeded fears like that. Pearl isn’t alleviating them. She’s exacerbating them. She’s enabling them. She’s reinforcing Connie’s fears about being worthless and weak next to Steven, but she’s twisting it. Making it okay for Connie to be weak and worthless so long as she gives herself, body and soul, to protecting Steven. So long as she values his life far above her own. And she’s getting this from Pearl! Strong, powerful, wise, beautiful Pearl. Someone who’s everything Connie wants to be, and she can’t see how wrong it is to listen.

“I can do it for him!” “I can do it for her! Okay now do that again!” “(Yes ma’am!)”



“You do it for her, and now you say—“ “I’ll do it for him.”

Connie is no longer afraid of Pearl. She knows she’s passed by Pearl’s standards—she’s done what she was supposed to do. And it’s nothing but praise and reinforcement from here on out. (“Yes ma’am!”) to the point that Pearl has her copying her movements and finishing her sentences. Connie is completely and utterly convinced this is right. And still it’s Steven, and only Steven, who can see the toxic amount of self-deception and manipulation that has taken place in this entire process.

This whole process is just so careful and meticulous and gut-wrenching. We’re seeing Pearl, someone we love and trust, indoctrinate a young girl into throwing her life away. And we have only Steven’s growing uneasiness to anchor us in reality, to know for certain this is NOT a good thing by the show’s standards. We’ve just witnessed Pearl do an awful thing. We’ve seen her project her own insecurities, her own near-suicidal tendencies onto someone who’s no more than 11. And it’s much worse for Steven. He’s been shown this broken and vulnerable side of someone he loves, and he just witnessed it get passed on to his closest friend. All for his sake. For his protection. If Connie dies, it’s for him. And Pearl and Connie would view it as right and proper if Steven had to witness her bleed out on the battlefield. An 11 year old kid, who’s just had his friend swear her life to him. And it’s Steven alone who realizes this needs to be fixed.

The mental games in this show deserve a whole book written on them. I can only do so much with one post to capture the magnitude of the themes presented here. Just…wow.