Last Night, Jinkx Monsoon Played a Villain on ‘Steven Universe’
Last July, we told you that Jinkx Monsoon would be appearing on Steven Universe. It’s been a while, but the Steven Universe Jinkx Monsoon episode finally aired last night, Jan. 5, and it was amazing.
Last night’s broadcast was a two-fer; we got a full half-hour of Steven Universe goodness. The two episodes were “Lars of the Stars” and “Jungle Moon,” though Monsoon was only in the first episode.
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When we last left Lars, he was hiding on Homeworld with some fugitive Gems. Steven and Connie head off to give him a care package put together by his parents. But when they meet up with Lars again, they find out he’s an anime-inspired Space Pirate. (Seriously, he’s wearing the same clothes as Captain Harlock. And he totally does the anime trope of laughing into the back of his hand. For anime nerds, this episode’s a treasure trove!)
But every space pirate needs an enemy, and that’s where Jinkx Monsoon comes in. Monsoon plays Emerald, a Homeworld Gem. We don’t know too much about her, other than that she’s a intergalactic traveler. But given that her gem is in her eye, it’s not too hard to imagine she might be a fellow pirate.
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In the episode Lars steals Emerald’s ship, and Emerald is none-too-pleased. We won’t go any farther with spoilers — seriously, just go watch the episode! It’s a great one! Emerald’s appearance feels like it may be a one-off, but as series creator Rebecca Sugar has said, there are no filler episodes or characters.
The appearance is a dream come true for Monsoon. In 2015, they posted a video asking Rebecca Sugar to let them voice a gem — to the tune of “Giant Woman”:
Now that Monsoon’s wish has come true, we hope that’s not the last we see of them in the series. Emerald was such a fun character, and we hope she comes back.
