Lion's History & Symbolism Explained! | Steven Universe

[So... Steven has a pink dead lion that can create portals, has a pocket dimension and can scream really loud? Oh my stars...]

If lion can make portholes with his rawr can Lars make one by screaming

Sooo was anyone gonna mention that steven's star sign is a leo? You know, a lion?

there is no need to speculate on the aging slowly theory. its canon. Rebecca Sugar herself said it in a podcast that both Lars and Lion are both aging very very slowly. they don't need to eat because their life processes are also very slow. they just like to eat because it's something familiar and comforting. They show this in the show by having Lars contently saying he is hungry when on the run after the trial but when he is brought back to life he notes he doesn't feel hungry anymore. Later when Steven visits him as a space pirate and brings him food its mostly just because he's homesick not because he needs to eat.

I know it was a joke about "animal abandonment" being another cruel aspect of Pink/Rose, but Lion was and continues to be a wild animal. He does not live with Steven or Connie in the series, and likely roams the wilds most of the time. I do not think Rose ever owned him, I am pretty sure she just healed a dying lion and the lion choose to visit her every now and then (aka why her stuff was in his mane). I always thought of Lion more as a champion who appears every now and then, rather than a pet.

I also think Lion is a form of animal therapy. The way that Lion shows unconditionally love for Steven and is right there for him with that love through all the trauma and revelations about his mother. Lion loves Steven no matter what his mother did, no matter who he becomes, no matter what he's done. Like in Steven Universe: Future when (spoiler alert) Steven transform back into himself after being the monster and Lion is the first one to greet him with all that love. Even though he was just a monster and he believed himself to be one, Lion just like all his friends and family sees him as Steven. Animal therapy is so important especially when a person goes through changes having that constant love of a pet is a reassurance that no matter what you do or who you become you are still worthy of love.

Lion needed an episode with just him and no other characters.

“Just like Pearl and Larimar, Lion can access a pocket dimension.”
LARIMAR

lion was definitely one of the most goated characters in this show.

I actually feel really bad for Lion because he's gonna have to watch his best friend grow old.

'I'm just trying to lion the mood, lion the mood'.

It's been said but lion wasn't "abandoned," he was a former wild animal whose job was to protect the desert glass.

4:50 In the end that was more about the emotional distance he feared would happen if Connie went away to college.

I think the reason that lion's tree has less leafs then lars's is because thier different types of trees. Lion's tree looks like an acacia tree and lars's tree could be an oak tree or some other deciduous tree. Another idea is that lion died when he was a cub, which is not uncommon, and the trees stop growing when the idividual dies hence why the acacia is so small copaired to a fully grown one and has so little leaves. Lions become adults when they reach 1 year of age so lion could have died as he tuned 1, give or take a month when lars died at 16-18 so lars's mind tree had longer to grow.

I don't think it counts as "animal abandonment" when it's fairly obvious that Lion was a loyal guard of Rose's secret locations and that Desert Glass.k

No, we can't add "animal abandonment to this list of shady things rose has done" at all. Lion has always been a self-sufficient, nearly immortal character who is often off doing his own thing. He doesn't need to eat, doesn't seem to need consistent attention and is easily capable of taking care of himself. For all we know, Lion CHOSE to go out to the desert before Rose died, seeing as he consistently disappears and wanders off throughout the show.

i dont think rose meant to abandon lion honestly. my idea is that he passed away, rose cried and left his body somewhere (I wouldn’t imagine she knew what burying was) and her tears resurrected him after she left. I think it would take an amount of time for him to resurrect because it would most likely be the first time she would resurrect an organic being, and i think because she isnt 1/2 organic it would take more time.

I want a show about what Lion was doing

Her: I've just been watching Steven Universe on loop-..
Me: Same girl, same.

I love Lion! I think he is being a good emotional support for Connie at that time. Steven is not treating Connie well and Lion knows it. I never see him as abandoned. He does what he wants too. I'm also watching SU on loop! No judgement here! 😉 I have been catching up on the theories from YouTubers. I've also been getting great insight from the comment sections. I like that I'm picking up more in this 3rd go around. Each time I watch it I get something new from it. That's why I love it! Thank you for great content!