Spoilers, maybe? IDK. Cut anyway
OK so drone!Pearl is pretty much confirmed, now. We know that the Homeworld Gems [HG’s for short] have been making artificial Gems for some significant time.
Pearls, at least Earth pearls, are generated by ocean molluscs from grit or sand that gets stuck inside.
We might be allowed to assume that HG Pearls were generated in a similar manner. Cultured Pearls, if you will. They have some technical knowhow, as evidenced by Pearl building a fucking spaceship out of Terran junk… and may have been designed as guards/nannies/servants for the ruling class.
Despite the spear - which does seem more decorative than functional - I don’t think they were engineered for combat. And “our” Pearl is defective. Meaning that the manufacture process wasn’t entirely reliable.
Also - if Amethyst is “overcooked”… what gems were they growing in the Kindergarten? Was it random? Or were the HG’s aiming for something else?
On to Peridot. She’s just been seen detaching her foot to escape the Gems
Some people say that she’s a robot. I think it’s slightly more sinister.
On the homeworld, Gems are judged by their apparent strength. The stronger a gem, the larger their corporeal manifestation. Ruby and Sapphire are “weaker” than Jasper, for example. Rose Quartz, being immense, is seen as stronger than Steven.
And the conjecture about Peridot never using her gem weapon is erroneous. We saw her pull something out of her gem shortly before she warped away. That something exploded and rendered all the flask robinoids(?) inoperable.
I can’t find the gif of it, but I think it’s the Gem equivalent of an EMP.
That bomb is her gem weapon. BUT - she can’t use it in the field. Why?
Well, that’s where it gets interesting.
I think that Peridot is a small Gem using artificial aids to make her seem stronger. Those funky hands? techno-gauntlets.
And her boots are basically sufficiently advanced Lifts. That’s why she could run up walls.
If she used her weapon against the Crystal Gems, she would disable her gauntlets and boots. She would reveal herself to be a weaker Gem. And that can’t happen, given her cultural background.
She’s not using her gem weapon against the Gems because she would be rendered disabled in the process.
OTOH, if she were poofed, I posit that her gauntlets and boots would remain behind. They are not part of her, and never were.
And what of Peridot’s parting words? “This planet has an expiry date and I’m not hanging around to find out when.”
Are the HG’s going to erase a planet rather than let it fall into the hands of their enemy?
Are the enemy coming to conquer Earth?
Some outside force beyond Lapis’ arrival made the HG’s interested in Earth again. But not interested enough, apparently, to send an army.