The Battle of Strawberry Fields

There's speculation that the Crystal Gems are lying to Steven about how long ago the Gem War was. This can be backed up by the fact that Greg was REALLY nervous when he was talking to Steven about the war.

Why would the Crystal Gems lie to Steven about when the war took place?

Why would they want to hide that from him? It was brutal, yes, but it's already done. Why hide it?

Is Beach City and its people the only surviving city of the war?

I don't know about only surviving city, considering that Greg wasn't hesitant to escape with Steven when Jasper and them were coming, but I do agree that the war probably left a considerable amount of damage on earth that Steven would more than likely notice.

I'm glad you brought this up because not only is Greg hesitant to talk about the war, but he also talks about it like he was there. He doesn't just state the facts like its a historical event that happened a long time ago, he talks of it like he was not necessarily at the field, but around and in a relationship with Rose when it was happening. If you think about how old Greg was when they met, and how old he looks  when she's pregnant on the video Rose left for Steven, you can tell there are a good amount of years in between.

Which leads me to believe that not only was Greg in love with Rose during the battle, but he had been so terrified at the prospect of losing Rose that he put off even bringing up kids until years after the battle was won. Its just a head canon but considering how much Greg aged, and how it seems like the battle wasn't that long ago, its not too big of a jump to assume Greg wouldn't want to submit his kid to a potential future battle.

But that's going off on another feels train about Greg lol. My point is that I agree with the theory that the Strawberry Field fight and the subsequent end of kindergarden weren't as long ago as the Gems and Greg lead Steven to believe.

Sorry for double post, on my tablet lol.

But another thing is if you look at the other Gems when they met Greg, they look hella young. Too young to be fighting. Hell Amythest is just a toddler. So either the battle happens after they all meet Greg, and they have all aged more, or the battle happened before they met Greg and they all degenerated in form from the trauma of it, which seems less likely to me lol.

I think the battle probably happened during Greg's relationship with Rose as well. It just feels more likely based on Greg's reaction. I mean I know it's supposed to have been horrible, but you generally don't react the way Greg did unless you were there/lived through it, you know? So the question becomes why are they hiding the truth from Steven?

You've gotta remember that Steven's a little kid. To me, it looked like Greg just accidently said something he didn't mean to say and was like "oh shoot now I have to tell him everything I know but I shouldn't be telling him this he's too young". Everything he said made it sound like he was told by Rose after the fact, at least to me.

Additionally, you have to remember that before the war, the Crystal Gems had a lot more members. It used to be an army, after all. The gems did look physically young in Story for Steven, but they don't age the same way we do. Since their bodies are an illusion, their appearance doesn't reflect how well they do in combat.

Now, Amethyst was awfully young, but you've gotta remember that she never actually fought in the war--they didn't even find her until 1000 years after the war ended.

I think the idea of Greg having been there for the war is ridiculous. He probably wouldn't be letting Steven go on missions with the gems if he had witnessed what happened in the war, and he wouldn't have completely flipped out when Steven told him about what happened on the warship in Full Disclosure.

It could also be a case of Greg doesn't really have a choice in the matter on whether or not Steven is involved with the Crystal Gems and their missions. Greg had to ultimately let Steven go in The Return. He had to go protect the Crystal Gems. That's the downside of having a kid with powers - you have to let them go in dangerous situations because they are the ones that save the day and all that.

And naturally Greg is going to flip out over news on what happened on the warship - regardless of the fact that Steven has powers, he's still his son and it was a near death experience.

I agree with Rose. Because even if he had been there during the war, he would still freak out A LOT when hearing about the dangerous situations Steven gets into. I mean, Steven IS the only part of Rose he has left, and he's his biological son. Any father would freak out for their kid's safety, even if they did kinda see it coming.

I think Greg was hesitant to talk about the war because Steven is really young. Nobody wants to talk about adult subjects with their kid, and war is one of them. Not only that, but all four gems basically killed living being during the war. Even if they weren't living in the same way humans are, they lost numerous friends as well as destroying the enemy army. Rose probably told Greg all about it, and even if he wasn't there, I'm sure it was still traumatizing.

I mean, imagine if you had a young kid that asked you about Pearl Harbor or Nazi concentration camps, it wouldn't be a subject you'd be eager to talk about. As for the theory that Greg was actually there, I don't think so. Being as the gems have holographic powers, it's possible they could have recreated it for him, not realizing how traumatizing war is for humans. Since the war happened 5000 years ago, the gems are probably over all the destruction they caused, and might not be as affected by reliving the memories over and over.