I like Garnet. She’s a admirable character, an awesome fighter and her sole song is the best one in the series. That said, for Steven Universe to unlock it’s true potential Ruby and Sapphire are going to need to split up, and do so for an extended period of time. A season at least.

Reason 1: Trouble in Paradise

First, let’s talk about Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship, because we need to get this out of the way: As a relationship, Garnet is unhealthy as fuck.

Ruby and Sapphire aren’t just close, they have been so close so long they no longer know how to exist as individuals. When they first got split up in Jailbreak, Ruby had a panic attack, and Sapphire was signing compulsively to comfort herself.

In Keystone Motel we saw another side of their instability. Ruby and Sapphire share a head most of the time, and yet aren’t actually capable of understanding each other. Ruby is highly emotional and short-sighted, while Sapphire is incapable of looking at the present and represses every negative feeling she has. Incidentally, this is likely why Garnet has three eyes, since the crew often uses many-eyed fusions to show that the components aren’t seeing eye-to-eye.

Hit The Diamond showed us a third side of this lovecraftianly fucked-up coin, with Ruby and Sapphire unable to stay apart long enough to do their job.

The point is, Ruby and Sapphire are such horribly stunted “individuals” that I just had to use quotation marks there. They can’t function apart and the crew continuing to depict them as a perfect couple isn’t just bad writing, it’s setting a bad example for their young viewers.

Reason 2: Character Development Ahoy!

Let’s be honest: a character with no way to move forward is just a plot device, and in a more mature series would be a prime target to kill off. As an individual, Garnet has no potential for growth as a character, but Ruby and Sapphire do, and they can’t do it fused together.

To clarify, I don’t want Ruby and Sapphire to split up permanently - I don’t think anyone does - but them developing hinges on the two of them making the entirely healthy decision to spend some time apart and put their relationship on hold. This may require them to split up until the finale or even the epilogue, but it will allow Ruby and Sapphire to become complex individuals the way the rest of the cast is, but they won’t be the only ones growing

Steven has grown a lot since the start of the series. He’s slimmed down, gotten better control of his powers, and is even starting to become emotionally mature. More than that, he’s become reliable, but the biggest step is still ahead of him.

I have no doubt that both the writers and Rose always intended Steven to become the leader of the Crystal Gems, but unless something happens to Garnet there is no convenient way for Steven to be thrust into that position.

Garnet splitting up allows Steven to take his next big step as a character, but it also gives him a safety net. Sapphire and Pearl are always there to guide him, and if he isn’t sure what to do, and Ruby and Sapphire can always fuse again to take the reins if need be.

Reason 3: Fusions

Okay, admit it. All of you want to see more fusions. With four crystal gems (ignoring Peridot and Lion), there are only 15 possible combinations and thus 11 fusions, only 3 of which we haven’t seen already. However, if we split Ruby and Sapphire up, the number of combinations becomes 31, adding 16 more potential fusions we haven’t met.

Can you honestly say you don’t want to see that? I’m already guessing that Sapphire and Pearl would form Moonstone, while Ruby and Pearl would be Sunstone respectively.

But yeah, bottom line: Garnet splitting up is best for the show