Anyways, been thinking about Double Life again, and I think Scott's treatment of Pearl was less about Pearl and more about the concept of soulmates generally.
I mean- Scott can be petty, of course. He often doesn't respond well to perceived slights, and is more than willing and capable of making people regret it if he feels like they insulted him.
But, despite his policy of pettiness, I'd also consider Scott to be relatively slow to anger and relatively quick to forgive. Scott has always been someone who sees great value in diplomacy. If someone is treating him like an easy mark or really pushing boundaries, he'll retaliate to prove he's not an easy target (and maybe for his own pride a bit), but he generally leads with peace, and he doesn't often stay angry with people who are willing to be diplomatic.
Which is why it always confused me just a little bit, from a characterization standpoint, why Scott was so immediately and irreparably hostile toward Pearl at the beginning of Double Life over the very very minor 'slight' of her going to the nether instead of trying to find him immediately. Especially when Pearl was very amenable and very much wanted to be a team, and especially because sticking with your soulmate is the most strategically viable course of action anyways. (oorp this is because it was fun dramatic content for youtube. but you guys know i love to build characterization where there is none.)
And honestly I think it really is just that Scott was deeply upset by the concept of soulmates. By the universe tying him to another person and trying to force him to rely on and support them, to love them, just because he's 'supposed' to. Hell, after the previous season, where Scott famously defied fate in a way that made the universe itself angry, maybe it even felt like a punishment, like a chain around his throat there to force him to, whether he likes it or not, lose some part of his agency and personal identity to a person he doesn't even get to choose.
I almost feel like it wouldn't have mattered who that person was or what they did, I think Scott would have been repulsed by the implicit act of force regardless. It wasn't really about Pearl. Although, Pearl going to the nether and taking significant damage there that Scott could not prevent but had to experience in full probably did reaffirm how little Scott could stand the concept of soulmates.
Which isn't to say the way Scott acted toward Pearl is justified- the thing about displaced disgust and frustration is that the target of it is inherently undeserving of it, and while Scott had every right to choose who he wanted to partner with, I think we can all agree he was very harsh with Pearl long before she actually did anything to him.
But I do think we're too quick to see this situation as Scott actually just being wildly petty over a very mild 'slight' from Pearl because of, presumably, pure ego, when I actually think it was moreso a very real and valid- but very misplaced- repulsion.
