History Recap / StevenUniverseS3E21Beta

* AchievementsInIgnorance: The Beta Kindergarten was a poorly managed rush job in a sub-optimal location focused on quantity over quality where almost ''every'' exit hole is in some way out of alignment or flawed to the point Peridot ''laughs'' at how poorly made it was. And yet somehow this last desperate attempt to pump out as many soldiers as physically possible managed to ''literally'' get everything perfect with one Gem by ''accident'', creating [[UltimateLifeform Jasper]]. This is something the prime Kindergarten was incapable of doing despite having ''everything'' in favor of creating superior Gems.

* BetaTestBaddie: ''Inverted''. Peridot ''expects'' this to be the case with Jasper in regards to Amethyst because Jasper is from the flawed, poorly planned Beta Kindergarten and thus should be be inherently inferior to Amethyst, who came from the prime, perfectly managed Kindergarten. It turns out to be the complete ''opposite'': Jasper was born the most ''objectively perfect'' Gem Peridot has ever witnessed.

** The Beta Kindergarten mentioned by Peridot in "It Could've Been Great" appears for the first time. As she stated to Amethyst, the prime Kindergarten and the Gems created there are impressive compared to the Beta Kindergarten's rush job.

** Amethyst is using the updated whip made for her by Bismuth.

* ChekhovsSkill: Peridot's skill as a Kindergartener allows her to analyze the holes at the Beta Kindergarten, particularly Jasper's.

** The barn wall Peridot broke through in "Message Received" has finally been repaired. Now that wall is an aquarium, and the alien doll she won in "Too Short to Ride" is floating around in it. Its throat is torn open from Peridot taking off its bowtie to wear herself.

* EpicFail: Peridot tries to play a number of instruments at one with her metal powers, which fails completely. A surprisingly tactful Lapis steps in to play with the cymbal.
* EvilCounterpart: Jasper is further established as being this to Amethyst: not only are both Quartz, both came from Kindergartens on Earth and had something that made them unique among their specific Kindergarten's crop of Gems. However, where Amethyst came out of a perfectly managed 'good' Kindergarten with a defect making her much smaller than an average Quartz, Jasper emerged from a severely mismanaged bad Kindergarten ''[[UltimateLifeform completely perfect]]''.

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Peridot remarks to Steven and Amethyst that the one of the holes in the Kindergarten is recently dug out and isn't an exit hole anymore. Seconds later, they find out what's occupying those new holes and who's responsible for them.
* FlatWhat: This is Amethyst's reaction to Peridot assuring her, seemingly apropos of nothing, that's she's better than Jasper.

** Every time a Homeworld Quartz soldier ''other'' than Jasper has appeared in flashbacks and accounts, [[ConservationofNinjutsu normally in numbers rather than one]], they've fared much worse than Jasper does. Pearl curbstomped two on her own and Garnet and Bismuth account taking on entire platoons of them, whereas Jasper alone was able to give Garnet a seriously tough fight. It turns out this is because Jasper ''isn't'' a normal Quartz: she's [[UltimateLifeform "the ultimate Quartz"]], born absolutely perfect with no flaws to be found.
** Malachite's being able to match Alexandrite in pure physical strength (and in some cases exceed her), despite being outnumbered two to one and Alexandrite ''also'' having a Quartz composing her also foreshadowed that Jasper was abnormally powerful.
* FreakLabAccident: Jasper is more or less the result of the Homeworld deciding to throw injectors down at complete random, in a rushed attempt to create as many Gems for CannonFodder as physically possible. During this, they somehow managed to accidentally cause ''everything'' that could go right in making a Gem to happen ''all at once'', creating [[UltimateLifeform a completely flawless "ultimate Quartz".]]
* FrictionBurn: Jasper's emergence from her hole actually caused the rock of the sides to turn into glass.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Steven praises Amethyst for having [[TookALevelInBadass how much faster she's gotten thanks to her training]]. However, Amethyst is disappointed and doesn't feel she's grown enough, particularly complaining she apparently managed to get a faster whip swing that morning.

* KingMook: Quartz Gems, while SuperSoldier level warriors, seem to be closer to EliteMooks from the descriptions and flashbacks. Jasper, however, is 'perfect' and referred to by Peridot as [[UltimateLifeform "the Ultimate Quartz"]].

'''Lapis:''' ...no.

* QuantityVsQuality: The difference between the Kindergartens. The Prime was well thought out in order to give the Gems the best advantage, the Beta was thrown together to produce as many soldiers for Homeworld as possible ASAP.

** Jasper has been using her birthplace to imprison her Gem monsters.

* ShoutOut: Lapis and Peridot making art out of displaying toilets in their home might be a shout-out to Marcel Duchamp's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_(Duchamp) Fountain]]. Unlike that one, though, their toilets also function as literal fountains.
* SuperSoldier: Jasper was born as the best possible result when trying to create a Gem warrior to such a degree that Peridot calls her "the ultimate Quartz". Her hole, easily the biggest in the Beta Kindergarten, has her ''[[PecFlex flexing]]'' as she comes out!
* TWordEuphemism: Steven talks about Jasper while in the barn, causing Peridot to nervously asks them not to say "the J word" around Lapis.
* ToiletHumor: A literal example: one of Peridot and Lapis' pieces of their art gallery are several toilets put together. They work as a fountain with the help of Lapis' hydrokinesis.
* TookALevelInBadass: According to Steven, Amethyst has gotten ''much'' faster due to her training. However, Amethyst isn't impressed and clearly doesn't feel she's taken ''enough'' levels yet.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: In-universe, one of Lapis' pieces of art is a TV looping a ''Camp Pining Hearts'' clip of someone saying "I just feel trapped" with two mirrors on the sides.

* UltimateLifeform: Upon seeing Jasper's hole, Peridot admits she's never seen such a perfect Quartz. She later warns Amethyst not to go against her because she's "the ultimate Quartz."

* WhamEpisode: We not only learn about Jasper's origins on Earth, we also discover where she's been keeping all the corrupted Gems she's captured.

* WhamShot: Three in quick succession: first is the shot of Jasper's massive, perfectly flawless exit hole among the small, misshapen ones; next come the barred cages revealing the Snow Beast and countless other corrupted Gems caught by Jasper; and finally is Jasper herself, waiting for Steven, Amethyst and Peridot in the sand cloud.

* LeaningOnTheForthWall: One of Peridot's criteria for a perfect exit hole is a clean, strong silhouette. Simple, readable silhouettes are a common technique in animation and storyboard composition.

* BornWinner: Jasper's exceptional strength comes from every part of her creation process going as well as possible, which is especially lucky in a Kindergarten where all the Gems were made in a rush.

* ToTheBatpole: Peridot shouting for Lapis to fly them inside... when they're on the ground five feet from the door.

** The last exhibit is a stack of toilets representing "The time [Peridot] spent imprisoned in your bathroom" between "Catch and Release" and "When It Rains".

* EpicFail: Peridot tries to play a number of instruments at one with her metal powers, which fails completely. To be fair, she hasn't practiced much.

** Amethyst, considered "defective" by Homeworld, is from the well-planned Kinderar

* AchievementsInIgnorance: The Beta Kindergarten was a poorly managed rush job focused on quantity over quality where almost ''every'' exit hole is in some way out of alignment or flawed to the point Peridot ''laughs'' at how poorly made it was. And yet somehow this last desperate attempt to pump out as many soldiers as physically possible managed to ''literally'' get everything perfect with one Gem by ''accident'', creating [[UltimateLifeform Jasper]]. This is something the prime Kindergarten was incapable of doing despite having ''everything'' in favor of creating superior Gems.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: The Beta Kindergarten, being a major rush job. Even the ''location'' was poorly chosen, being primarily sandstone, which erodes easily. Peridot comments that they're lucky that there's anything ''left'' of it by the time they arrive. It's a miracle they produced ''any'' properly made Gems, let alone a freak of nature like Jasper.

* MundaneUtility: Lapis and Peridot used their powers to remodel the barn.

* QuantityVsQuality: The difference between the Kindergartens. The Alpha was well thought out in order to give the Gems the best advantage, the Beta was thrown together to produce as many soldiers for Homeworld as possible ASAP.

* SuperSoldier: Jasper was born as the best possible result when trying to create a Gem warrior to such a degree that Peridot calls her "the ultimate Quartz". Her hole, easily the biggest in the Beta Kindergarten, has her ''flexing'' as she comes out!

** Amethyst is still training for her rematch with Jasper.

* SuperSoldier: Jasper was born as the best possible result when trying to create a Gem warrior. Her hole, easily the biggest in the Beta Kindergarten, has her ''flexing'' as she comes out!

* LiteralMinded: Lapis' meepmorps further demonstrate her [[TheComicallySerious extremely straightforward thought processes]].

* TrueArtIsAngsty: In-universe, one of Lapis' pieces of art is a TV looping a ''Camp Pining Hearts'' clip of someone saying "I just feel trapped".

* AchievementsInIgnorance: The Beta Kindergarten was a poorly managed rushjob focused on quantity over quality where almost ''every'' exit hole is in some way out of alignment or flawed to the point Peridot ''laughs'' at how poorly made it was. And yet somehow this last desperate attempt to pump out as many soldiers as physically possible managed to ''literally'' get everything perfect with one Gem on ''accident'', creating [[UltimateLifeform Jasper]]. This is something the prime Kindergarten was incapable of doing despite having ''everything'' in favor of creating superior Gems.

* BetaTestBaddie: ''Inverted''. Peridot ''expects'' this to be the case with Jasper in regards to Amethyst because Jasper is from the flawed, poorly done rushjob that is the Beta Kindergarten and thus should be be inherently inferior to Amethyst, who came from the prime, perfectly managed Kindergarten. It turns out to be the complete ''opposite'': Jasper was born the most ''objectively perfect'' Gem Peridot has ever witnessed.
* BornWinner: Jasper's exceptional strength comes from every part of her creation process going as well as possible, which is especially lucky in a Kindergarten where all the gems were made in a rush.

* FreakLabAccident: Jasper is more or less the result of the Homeworld deciding to throw injectors down at complete random, in a rushjob to create as many gems for CannonFodder as physically possible. During this, they somehow managed to accidentally cause ''everything'' that could go right in making a Gem to happen ''all at once'', creating [[UltimateLifeform a completely flawless "ultimate Quartz".]]

* SuperSoldier: Jasper was born as the best possible result when trying to create a gem warrior. Her hole, easily the biggest in the Beta Kindergarten, has her ''flexing'' as she comes out!

** Peridot haplens upon large, misshapen holes in the Beta Kindergarten and makes an alarming conclusion:

* CallBack: The Beta Kindergarten mentioned by Peridot in "It Could've Been Great" appears for the first time. As she stated to Amethyst, the prime Kindergarten and the Gems created there are impressive compared to the Beta Kindergarten's rush job.

* SuperSoldier: Jasper . Her hole, easily the biggest in the Beta Kindergarten, has her ''flexing'' as she comes out!

* WhamLine: Quite a few to be had.
** First, there's TheReveal of Jasper's place of origin:

** Next, when Peridot happens upon large, misshapen holes in the Beta Kindergarten:

* WhereIWasBornAndRazed: As it turns out, Jasper's contributions to Homeworld's attempts to destroy Earth are revealed to be this trope. Like Amethyst, she was made on Earth.

-->'''Peridot:''' Lapis, fly us in!
-->'''Lapis:''' ...no.

* SuperSoldier: Jasper, for the reasons listed under UltimateLifeform. Her hole, easily the biggest in the Beta Kindergarten, has her ''flexing'' as she comes out!

* FreakLabAccident: Jasper is more or less the result of the Homeworld deciding to throw injectors down at complete random, in a rushjob to create as many gems for CannonFodder as physically possible. During this, they somehow managed to [[GoneHorriblyRight accidentally cause ''everything'' that could go right]] in making a Gem to happen ''all at once'', creating [[UltimateLifeform a completely flawless "ultimate Quartz".]]

-->''Lapis:'' ...no.