History Recap / StevenUniverseS4E16StormInTheRoom

** Steven, while giving a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Lars in "Lars in the Cool Kids", mentions that he never got to know his mom. Now he gets the opportunity, via her Room.

* TrueCompanions: The episode starts out with Steven seeing the caring relationship Connie has with her mom. Then, he tries to make himself a microwave dinner because nobody in his broken family is home, and he feels like he has to take care of himself. Then he goes into his room and has it generate his own mother so he can meet her and spend time with her like normal kids get to. When he leaves the room, goes back to his dinner waiting cold on the table in his empty house... until Greg and the gems burst back in with a pizza and apologize for being late. Steven realizes that he does have a family who loves him and looks out for him; it's just not a typical one!

--> '''Cloud Rose''': Steven, you know that isn't true. In the tape I left you, I told you how much I wanted to have you and let you exist. Do you think that what I said to you in the tape was a lie?

-->'''Steven''': I get it. I know you didn't want me to deal with your problems. You're a part of me now. I have to deal with what you left behind.

-->'''Steven''': I've learned things about you. Things you wanted to keep secret. You locked Bismuth away inside of Lion, because she wanted to shatter Gems, and you never told Garnet or Pearl. But then you shattered Pink Diamond! Now all of Homeworld has it out for Earth, and the Crystal Gems and me! You put us all in danger, and you just disappeared!\\

* AmbiguousSituation: It's not clear if Rose was simply an artificial construct like [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E19RosesRoom what we've]] [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E2OpenBook seen before]], if Rose left enough of herself in the room that it could create a fuller version of her, or if she was actually being channeled through Steven's gem. She seems more advanced than many cloud constructs, but is she any moreso than Cloud Connie?\\
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While both responded to Steven's subconscious wishes, Cloud Rose was far more tactful in her interaction with Steven, offering honest and caring feedback while never approaching the point of doing him harm, even when he unloaded his doubts at her. Cloud Connie went off the rails as soon as Steven understood her to be an illusion. This may be Steven having greater awareness of the room's limitations. Then again, since Steven/Rose's gem glowed when he wished he could know the truth about her, it's not impossible that the room actually manifested her presence to fulfil his wish.

* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: The Room and its constructs don't show up on camera; Steven only sees himself in a black void when he tries to take a selfie.

** While waiting with Connie, Steven plays several games of a ''Mad Libs''-style word game. While playing with Cloud Rose, she makes a speech that's basically word-swap of one of the few words he's directly heard his mother say, altered to be about ''sports'' instead of humans.

* WhatTheHellHero / TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Steven calls out Cloud Rose for her actions, like keeping secrets from the Crystal Gems.

* ShoutOut: While playing football with Cloud Rose, Steven falls for the old "pull-away-the-football" prank Lucy always pulls on Charlie Brown in ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''. The promotional art above has Steven drawn in the same style.

* OffModel: An in-universe case, as the room can't quite get Rose's face right due to Steven only having the painting as a reference, and it looks more like his own. She also tends to look much sadder than in flashbacks.

* AmbiguousSituation: It's not clear if Rose was simply an artificial construct like [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E19RosesRoom what we've]] [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E2OpenBook seen before]], if Rose left enough of herself in the room that it could create a fuller version of her, or if she was actually being channeled through Steven's gem. She seems more advanced than many cloud constructs, but is she any moreso than Cloud Connie?
** Possibly. While both responded to Steven's subconscious wishes, Cloud Rose was far more tactful in her interaction with Steven, offering honest and caring feedback while never approaching the point of doing him harm, even when he unloaded his doubts at her. Cloud Connie went off the rails as soon as Steven understood her to be an illusion. This may be Steven having greater awareness of the room's limitations. Then again, since Steven/Rose's gem glowed when he wished he could know the truth about her, it's not impossible that the room actually manifested her presence to fulfill his wish.

[[caption-width-right:350: Good Grief. ]]

--> '''Cloud Rose''': In the tape I left you, I told you how much I wanted to have you and let you exist. Do you think that what I said to you in the tape was a lie?

* CallingTheOldManOut: Steven finally snaps at Cloud Rose over his anger at having to deal with all the messes Rose Quartz left behind. Cloud Rose (who Steven acknowledges is just him talking to himself) reminds him of the tape she left for him, asking if he believes it was a lie - he doesn't, and he knows how loving she was in it.

* HopeSpot: Steven gets along with Cloud Rose, and tries to do parental things with her like play videogames and toss a football. When he tries to take a selfie, however, he remembers that this Rose isn't real, that the real Rose is gone, and that she left him to deal with her problems.

* WhatTheHellHero: Steven calls out Cloud Rose for her actions, like keeping secrets from the Crystal Gems.

* CharacterDevelopment: Instead of repressing his emotions to let them bubble out at a bad time, Steven decides to deal with them directly, without the Gems' help.

** Another one to "Last One Out Of Beach City", Steven and Connie finish the zebra puzzle Steven was working on with Pearl

...the shot changes to indicate they've passed quite a lot of time. They assembled a 1000 piece puzzle, built a rather lofty house of cards, and are playing “Weird Words”. Connie, now more than a little concerned at the absence of her usually prompt mother, calls again and the voicemail picks up. Again. Steven starts another round of Weird Words to distract her, but her worry is infecting the game as she suggests articles of speech that indicate she's worried her mother has gotten into a car accident ending in an explosion. Steven offers to take Connie home on Lion, but it's not the getting home that concerns her, it's her mother's out of character lateness without calling.

* OffModel: An in-universe case, as the room can't quite get Rose's face right due to Steven only having the painting as a reference, and it looks more like his own. She also tends to look much sadder than in flashbacks.

* RecursiveAdaptation: InUniverse, Steven introduces Cloud Rose to an arm-wrestling videogame that is a spinoff of a fighting game based on the ''Lonely Blade'' TV show.

* ShoutOut:
** The second half of the episode references the Batman episode "Perchance to Dream," where Bruce Wayne ended up in a world where his parents were alive and he never became Batman. Like Bruce, Steven pulls away from the Room's fantasy when he registers that it isn't real.
** While playing football with Cloud Rose, Steven falls for the old "pull-away-the-football" prank Lucy always pulls on Charlie Brown in ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''. The promotional art above has Steven drawn in the same style.

* AmbiguousSituation: It's not clear if Rose was simply an artificial construct like [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E19RosesRoom what we've]] [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E2OpenBook seen before]], or if she was actually being channeled through Steven's gem. Considering how much more advanced Rose acts than most cloud constructs, it seems to lean heavily towards the latter.

* CallingTheOldManOut: Steven finally snaps at Cloud Rose over his anger at having to deal with all the messes Rose Quartz left behind. Cloud Rose (who Steven acknowledges is just him talking to himself) tells him that Rose couldn't have been that bad, or she wouldn't have left the tape for him.

* OffModel: An in-universe case, as the room can't quite get Rose's face right due to Steven only having the painting as a reference, and it looks more like his own.

Finally Priyanka arrives, and is all apologies, explaining that a surgery ran late and she had to cover for another doctor, and that her phone died because a patient might've stolen her charger. She thanks Steven for allowing Connie to stay late, and murmurs to Connie that Steven must be back from the spa.

All alone with nothing but his thoughts, Steven showers and changes out of his Zooman outfit and back into his usual clothing. He microwaves himself a little mac and cheese, then sits in the living room to eat it. Unfortunately, he's not entirely alone. The room is completely overshadowed by the calm and benevolent painting of Rose that hangs above the door. Steven tries to ignore it for a while, then takes his meal outside – only to have a delicate little rain suddenly turn into a furious thunderstorm.

Back inside with his waterlogged meal, Steven begins thinking out loud about Rose. In response to his emotions, his gem lights up and he walks into Rose's room. After being awkward about not having been in the room lately, he asks it to show him his mother. A Cloud!Rose is created and they share a sweetly awkward handshake. Steven tries to bond with her by playing video games, and then football. They laugh and hug, and Steven wonders why he never tried this before. Then he realizes that the Cloud!Rose isn't really his mother – she's what Steven wants his mother to be like. He demands to know what she really is, and as his emotions bubble up about what Rose did to Bismuth and to Pink Diamond, the room reflects his turmoil by stirring up a storm.

Back inside with his waterlogged meal, Steven begins thinking out loud about Rose. In response to his emotions, his gem opens up and he walks into Rose's room. After being awkward about not having been in the room lately, he asks it to show him his mother. A Cloud!Rose is created and they share a sweetly awkward handshake. Steven tries to bond with her by playing video games, and then football. They laugh and hug, and Steven wonders why he never tried this before. Then he realizes that the Cloud!Rose isn't really his mother – she's what Steven wants his mother to be like. He demands to know what she really is, and as his emotions bubble up about what Rose did to Bismuth and to Pink Diamond, the room reflects his turmoil by stirring up a storm.

** Also a meta example. When the preview was released, it ended before Priyanka arrived. Due to foreshadowing in "That Will Be All", many fans feared that she and her husband had been abducted by the Diamonds and taken to the Zoo.

** While playing football with Cloud Rose, Steven falls for the old "pull-away-the-football" prank Lucy always pulls on Charlie Brown in ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''.
*** The promotional art above is also one to ''{{ComicStrip/Peanuts}}''.