Steven Universe Season 5 / Awesome

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We are the Crystal Gems!!!

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Stuck Together

Topaz gets one by successfully subduing Aquamarine and pinning her to the engine wall while trying to help Steven and Lars go back to Earth. Even if Aquamarine talks her down in the end, the fact that she was even willing to risk so much to help two people she'd just met is commendable.
Aquamarine gets one back by pointing out how reckless it might be if the Diamonds find out, while in a state of fear of being poofed.

The Trial

Blue Diamond's chilling declaration on exacting revenge on Steven. Lisa Hannigan's delivery of the line is accurately ridden with spite and vengeance.
Blue Diamond: I want to know what she thinks we're going to do with her... Because I want to do something worse.
Defense Zircon, Steven's attorney, manages to pull a "Eureka!" Moment straight out of Matlock and makes a pretty damning argument about why Rose was innocent of Pink Diamond's shattering and instead the true culprit was a Diamond. Despite having almost no prep time to work on Steven's case, in a blatant Kangaroo Court, she managed to cause doubts for Blue Diamond on whether Rose was even capable of shattering Pink Diamond. The only reason her case was dismissed was because she inadvertently (and possibly unintentionally) accused Blue and Yellow of treachery, implying a Cain and Abel situation.
- In full, her argument is as follows: Rose Quartz has been a known rebel for centuries by the time that happened, and Pink Diamond had no Rose Quartzes left in her entourage. Thus, Rose Quartz approaching the palanquin would have stuck out like a sore thumb. She would have needed to do through the Quartz guards... but they were absent. The Sapphire assigned to Pink Diamond would have foreseen the possibility... but she issued no warning. Pink Pearl, at the very least, would have been obligated to be by her side at all times, thus she could have called for help... but she neglected to do so, and vanished, and the only one who could have dismissed her was another Diamond. ^note In short, she managed to turn the trial around and make a powerful argument with the glaring but understated fact that Pink Diamond's demise via pragmatic assassination should have been impossible.
- Despite her state of nervousness throughout the trial and being faced with a case that appears to be insurmountable, the inconsistencies Defense Zircon finds are strong enough that she begins to confidently present her argument, cowed not even by Yellow Diamond raising her voice in visible anger and irritation.
- That a Nervous Wreck like Defense Zircon would dare to accuse her own matriarchs of murder is this in itself.
- Just how effective was Blue Zircon's argument? Blue Diamond's reactions suggest that she may be taking it seriously, even after Yellow poofs the Zircon. A House Divided situation isn't far-fetched among the Diamond Authority now that Blue Diamond is somewhat convinced about Zircon's argument rather than what the original story had told her.
- She also deserves credit that for a case assigned to her that she didn't want and certainly knew she wouldn't be able to win, she did honestly try to do her best for Steven with what she had. Whether he was guilty or not, she still did her best in her duty as his attorney to work to his benefit. As such, she was the only one willing to even try to defend Steven when everyone, even Steven himself, believed Rose Quartz was guilty. Rather than just go with the bare minimum or simply try to lessen his sentence, once she saw that she had an avenue to exonerate him, she went for it—much to her own detriment.
- And the final piece of Awesome for Zircon was that even though nobody at the time knew it (except for Pearl), she was (technically) right that a Diamond shattered Pink - Herself.
Blue Diamond stands up to Yellow Diamond when the latter poofs both Zircons, demanding that she rein in her temper. To the point that she starts raising her voice. This, despite being cowed in Yellow Diamond's presence during "That Will Be All".
Yellow Diamond: But this [trial] is pointless!
Blue Diamond: NO. IT'S. NOT!
- This can't be understated - Yellow Diamond wanted to just shatter "Rose Quartz" (I.E. Steven) and be done with it, insisting that the trial and its findings are pointless. But Blue Diamond, despite centuries of mourning and a desire to deal a Fate Worse than Death to Pink Diamond's killer, firmly insists that this isn't irrelevant. Blue might be a depressed wreck around her militaristic family member, but she's still a Diamond.
- Also worth noting: Yellow Diamond might steal the show with wielding pure energy as a weapon, but Blue Diamond can impose her emotions on others when her powers are unleashed, as shown when her outburst during the trial causes all present Gems to shed the same tears and feel grief as she herself is, including Yellow.
Steven taking charge of the situation when the Diamonds start arguing, grabbing Lars and leaping into - and promptly commandeering - Blue Diamond's palanquin as an escape vehicle.

Off-Colors

Lars takes a level in badass and fends off the Shattering Robonoids who are trying to find Steven and the frightened Off Colors and shatter them all, putting himself directly in harms way multiple times, and even sacrificing himself to stop them all. He uses a makeshift club to destroy several Robonoids and throws himself in front of Rhodonite when she's about to be scanned, preventing her from being detected. He then leaps on top of a Robonoid, riding it like a bucking bronco and stabbing his club through the thing's eye. Bonus points for said Level in Badass being taken while watching the Rutile Twins have two Shattering Robonoids closing in from opposite sides. He already felt like he failed Sadie back in the Season 4 Finale, No way was he going to let something like that happen again if he could help it.
Lars: I think that's the coolest thing I've ever done in my life.
Steven tends to be Overshadowed by Awesome a lot, so seeing him with the Off Colors really highlights how powerful he is. They include two multigem fusions, yet they are utterly shocked by both his combat prowess and physical strength, let alone his healing powers.

Lars' Head

Lars encouraging Steven and the Off Colors to go back home and leave him behind, saying that he's someone who took the freedom and beauty of Earth for granted, and that he wants to be someone worthy of being revived by Steven, who's always gone so far to help others.
- And by the same token, the Off Colors, who have been stuck in hiding and fearing for their lives on Homeworld for eons, pass up their chance to be free on Earth and instead stay with Lars to keep him company and navigate him through Homeworld while Steven tries to find a way to save them all. Doubles as heartwarming, as they do it because they've immediately accepted him as one of their own, and "Off Colors stick together."
Steven just effectively cured death. His (and Rose's) tears are capable of bringing the (recently) deceased back to life, if only those he's mourning. This means that any concerns of him outliving Connie and Greg or Pearl outliving Mystery Girl are rather effectively neutered, and given his empathy pretty much anyone he knows to any degree is safe so long as he's nearby when they die. Steven's status as The Messiah is becoming more literal, eh?
- Not to mention the abilities Lars might get from his resurrection. He may never be the same again, but at least his Character Development is going to let him be able to use those abilities to the fullest extent.

Dewey Wins

Connie's What the Hell, Hero? moment to Steven. To elaborate, in most media, The Hero performs a Heroic Sacrifice but end up back alive for whatever reason, and are told by their loved ones what they did was brave, receive a very brief scolding, or a combination of both. However, in Connie's short speech to Steven, she completely deconstructs the whole concept: Steven's sacrifice was an incredibly foolish and risky move that absolutely terrified everyone since they all thought he was dead, it proved that he (seemingly) didn't trust anyone else to help him drive off Aquamarine and the Topaz duo, and his nonchalance towards the emotional anguish he put his loved ones through was not okay.
Martha going full-on Mama Bear in response to Dewey's promise to hire a new employee at the Big Donut, which doubled as blowing off Lars' existence.
Nanefua's Rousing Speech about how the citizens of Beach City can't keep blaming Dewey and must come together to fix their problems.
After spending the whole of the series as a well-meaning but passive and somewhat unnecessarily manipulative mayor, Bill Dewey actually acknowledges his shortfalls along with Nanefua's speech, and opts to drop out with no rebuttal.
Just the fact that despite working through politics, both Nanefua and Dewey realize and acknowledge their faults: Nanefua recognizes that if she's going to be an effective mayor, she can't just be a ringleader and point blame at anyone for terrible situations, even at the perpetrator; and Dewey even admits that his Head-in-the-Sand Management and personal insecurities have majorly held him back during his tenure.
Though it didn't work out in the end, Steven still chooses to help Dewey the best he can with the election, even when he's essentially going against a fellow Beach City citizen.

Raising the Barn

After at least two seasons being inactive, Lapis showcases her water powers again, being able to lift the family barn with only minimal effort.

Sadie Killer

Sadie gets invited to join the new band Steven is forming with the Cool Kids, but she's too exhausted working double-shifts at the Big Donut to rehearse. Undeterred, the band comes to rehearse late at night at Sadie's house after she's done with work and get inspired to do a horror rock sound thanks to Sadie's large collection of horror movies. When prompted, she improvises the song "Working Dead" to channel her frustrations working a dead-end job, which eventually encourages her to finally quit the Big Donut and pursue the band full-time.
- It can't be undersold what amazing Character Development this is for Sadie: she's working double-shifts because Lars is gone now, and his absence combined with the workload makes her realize what a dead-end working for the Big Donut is. She's always been shy about her love of horror films, but the Cool Kids dig it and it's what eventually inspires the sound of the band. What's more, Sadie's always been shy about her singing (her mom didn't help there), but she turns out to be a natural front-woman. In short, everything Sadie is (independent of Lars or the Big Donut) finally comes together in "Working Dead", and it's so satisfying to see a character who's been through the wringer since the beginning of the show finally blossom.

Lars Of The Stars

In the time since Steven left him, Lars and the Off-Colors managed to become totally badass Space Pirates. They did this by stealing the fastest ship under the command of Emerald, another fleet leader. Emerald mentions them stealing her personal ship, impersonating Imperial Officers, and sneaking past 67 Elite Citrines to steal their current ship. And all this from Lars and the Off-Colors, who are considered lowly nobodies by Homeworld standards. How's that for defective?
- What's Awesome also in this moment in a small Heartwarming way is that while Emerald is listing off all their 'crimes' you can see some of the Off-Colors actually sniggering in remembrance. Even if 'Your Mother and Mine' showed that they all still see themselves as being lesser and flawed, the fact they can laugh at outwitting a Gem who is supposedly 'higher' than them means that during their journey the Off-Colors are beginning to see their true value.
Lars calling Emerald's bluff about destroying the Sun Incinerator.
Emerald rebutting Lars by disabling the ship's weapons systems, and shooting down the drop ship Stevonnie is piloting to counterattack, just before speeding off.

Jungle Moon

Stevonnie manages to survive several days on an unknown alien moon all thanks to Connie's knowledge of survival skills.
Stevonnie also never defuses, not even when they're asleep, proving once again that the bond between Steven and Connie is almost as strong as Garnet's.
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn switching roles from Dr. Maheswaran to Yellow Diamond during Stevonnie's/Pink's memory dream was so incredible that some fans were tricked into thinking that it was Patti LuPone herself.

Your Mother and Mine

Padparadscha showing that her power does have practical applications when she "predicts" that Lars will press the wrong button, something that no one else had realized.

The Big Show

Greg becomes the Suspects' manager and gets them a gig in EMPIRE CITY.
The Suspects' stage performance. With some props courtesy of Greg, they set themselves up with a stage not unlike The Rocky Picture Horror Show.

A Single Pale Rose

Pearl turns out to have even better game at getting phone numbers than we knew, with a whole section of her memory dedicated to them.
Another one for Pearl: After 5000 years of having to keep her silence thanks to the final order from her Diamond, she finally finds a way to tell Steven the truth: not by telling, but by showing him.
Pink/Rose and Pearl faking Pink's death, fooling everyone.
- A low-key moment, but Pink/Rose managing to make extremely convincing gem shards in moments by taking some sand, blowing on it, and squeezing it. The amount of heat and pressure she had to exert to do this is amazing.
A retroactive moment for Bismuth: it turns out Rose's sword is powerful enough to poof in one hit a Diamond. Even if Pink wasn't fighting against it, it's quite impressive.

Now We're Only Falling Apart

Sapphire showing what she can do with her ice powers, creating giant spikes and possibly even causing a snowstorm!
Pink/Rose changing her plans and deciding to form the Crystal Gems after meeting Garnet.
- And earlier, when Pearl reveals that Pink tried to stop her fellow Diamonds in a rather peaceful way... but when peace failed, she decided to personally kick the Gems that were hurting Earth off her planet as Rose Quartz.
Easy to miss, but Pearl finally admitting that maybe Pink/Rose was foolish, even selfish. The fact she's evolved from blindly following Rose to being able to recognize her flaws is a huge deal.
It's easy to miss, but in this episode, Pearl says she had belonged to Pink Diamond for a few thousand years before Pink Diamond was given the Earth. What's significant about this is that in "Sworn to the Sword", Pearl claimed to have been a thousand years old when she learned the sword. That means that Pearl learning to use the sword happened before Pink Diamond became Rose Quartz, before Pearl herself became the Renegade Pearl, and before Earth showed her that she could be more than just someone's possession.

What's Your Problem

Steven jumping up and holding onto Helicopter Amethyst, even as she tries to shake him off.
In its own tragic way, Amethyst revealing that the reason she's been aloof about the "Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond" Reveal this entire episode is because she's trying to be mature to protect Steven from worrying over problems that aren't his fault. For once, Amethyst is stepping up as an authority figure, in order to take care of both Steven and herself. This speech seals it:
Amethyst: You wanna know how I feel, Steven?!
Steven: I thought I was pretty clear about that...
Amethyst: I thought I was pretty clear, too! I feel like I don't want to say "What about me", okay? I don't want to be bent out of shape, I don't want to be stuck in the past, and I'm not responsible for what Rose did. None of us are! Not you, not Pearl, and not Garnet! But I am responsible for me. And right now, I am not gonna dump another thousand year old complex on you or anybody else! I'm ending it right here!
I am the Ding Dong Sunshine Future, your friend forever!
And I'm not gonna fall apart on you.
- Look at her pose during this speech. Shouldn't it remind you of another inspiring, protective older sibling?
Just the fact that Amethyst is actively trying to defy Steven's Living Emotional Crutch status throughout this episode. After five seasons of Steven helping the Crystal Gems get through their neuroses and issues, it's great to have someone acknowledge how unhealthy that self-sacrificing nature of his can be and take responsibility for their own problems.

The Question

The context of this episode: On Independence Day, we're seeing an episode about Ruby experiencing Independence. And asking the love of her life to marry her.
Ruby intimidating a rattlesnake without so much as having to lay a finger on it.
Ruby asks Sapphire to marry her! And she says yes! (Also crosses into heartwarming).

Made of Honor

Steven's apparently been filling the wedding idea book for years, and remembers the contents of each page.
Steven and Bismuth defeating the corrupted Biggs.
Bismuth creating several weapons in the space of what could only have been a few minutes.
- Bismuth feels Steven has unofficially supplanted Garnet as the leader of the Crystal Gems, and considering how much Steven's grown and kept everybody together in lieu of Garnet's absence, it's hard to disagree. He hasn't just grown into Rose's old role, he's arguably surpassed her.
Bismuth makes Ruby and Sapphire wedding rings!

Reunited

Steven's powers are emotion based, so we know that for all the troubles and problems in his life he totally means every single word of his song. After all, if he felt sad, how could he be floating all over the place?
The wedding music? An acoustic rendition of "Stronger Than You", courtesy of Greg.
Ruby and Sapphire kissing on the lips. This may very well be one of the first times an LGBT+ couple have kissed onscreen in a children's cartoon.
Ronaldo shows he actually has the bravery to back up his blustering, as his response to seeing the Cluster is to wordlessly draw his sword with a Death Glare, having to be pulled back by Peedee.
Just the idea that Lapis returns to Earth on her own without anyone having to talk her into doing it. Given that she's been running away from anything that even remotely resembles harm ever since her unfortunate incidents after and during the Gem War, the fact that Lapis finally chose to be brave for once is both astounding and a mark of major Character Development.
"I couldn't stay away. If they're gonna punish me like a Crystal Gem, I might as well be one, right?"
The Cluster forming was previously presented as a worst-case scenario, so viewers are likely to be panicking when it turns into a giant arm. But that fear instantly turns to cheers when the Cluster turns out to still be cognizant enough to remember that Steven and the Crystal Gems are its friends (as it gives them all a thumbs-up), punches Yellow's arm ship, and engages it in one of the most epic arm-wrestling matches ever. Which it wins, smashing the yellow ship as well as the blue one on top of Blue Diamond.
- While there's not really any attention paid to this aspect, the Cluster just stranded two Diamonds on Earth. While this could have made things quite hard for the Crystal Gems if Steven hadn't gotten through to them, who knows how many lives on other planets it saved by at least temporarily removing them from their jobs?
The Crystal Gems vs. the Diamonds.
- Initially fusing together as Alexandrite to fight Blue Diamond, Blue overwhelms the fusion and everyone else with her pathokinesis... Except for Connie and Lion, who team up to charge at Blue. It ends up getting Rose's sword shattered with no damage to Blue, but damn if Connie and Lion weren't a honest-to-goodness Knight and Steed team for a moment there.
  - Connie's jump from the deck down onto Lion's back. She sees the others fall to their knees, and decides she needs to strike.
- Alexandrite unfuses and all looks lost as no one can bear to fight. Garnet then strides towards Blue shouting how she is the embodiment of love and grasps at Blue's cloak. Blue scoffs at her and asks if this will stop her. No, Garnet was just stopping Blue Diamond from taking three steps to the right, so Lapis could drop the entire Barn on Blue.
  - Just the fact that Garnet didn't defuse when Blue hit her with the despair aura is a sign that her love is stronger than Blue's grief.
  - Garnet's Unflinching Walk and Badass Boast is accompanied by an instrumental of Stronger Than You. It really couldn't be accompanied by anything else.
- When Blue unleashes another Emotion Bomb that drives all the Crystal Gems to their knees once again, Lapis promptly No Sells it. One of the strongest Gems in the galaxy used her powers, and the attack did nothing to Lapis.
  Lapis: (casually wiping away a tear) I've. Felt. Worse. (grabs Blue with water chains and disrupts the Emotion Bomb)
- You know what makes this truly awesome? Unlike Blue, Lapis overcame her crippling trauma with the help of her friends.
- The whole ensuing fight, from Steven's Rousing Speech where we see all the Crystal Gems standing together as one to them actually being able to knock Blue Diamond to one knee with a barrage of attacks.
- A villainous example: seeing the Diamonds in a genuine fight. Yellow is mostly in her ship busy with the Cluster but Blue, the weeping, grieving Blue who is so overshadowed by her pain she barely seems a threat, is able to almost utterly obliterate the Crystal Gems single-handedly.
- Another villainous example, in terms of how durable the Diamonds are. Blue Diamond is hit with just about everything the Crystal Gems throw at her, gets a barn as well as her own ship smashed on top of her, and comes out completely unscathed. In addition, Yellow Diamond survives her own ship's destruction and escapes without so much as a scratch on her.
While she doesn't contribute too much in terms of effective fighting, Peridot is, in stark contrast to her usual scared reaction whenever the Diamonds come up, utterly fearless when they actually arrive, lobbing insults and doing her bit with the rest of the team. While the moment is dimmed a bit by the fact that Yellow Diamond doesn't remember her and poofs her instantly, Peridot marching up to her, calling her a clod again and demanding to know if the Diamond remembers her is still a very awesome moment for Peridot.
Connie, an entirely normal human, participating in a battle against two of the diamonds.
All of the current Crystal Gems, plus Connie and Lion, helping Steven hold the shield against one of the diamonds' attacks.
When in a mental plane, Steven manages to reassure all of the Gems still unpoofed and fighting, giving them a Heroic Second Wind.
- Especially gratifying is his getting Pearl to snap out of her old "Do it for her/him" mindset and instead start fighting for herself, refuting the Unfortunate Implications some fans had worried about regarding her still being so willing to put herself in harm's way for the Gem she was made to be a slave for.
Just the fact that the original Crystal Gems seem to be holding their own against two diamonds at once.
Steven managing to use his new Astral Projection powers to convince Yellow and Blue to stop fighting!
Steven: Please, the fighting has to stop. We aren't enemies. We're family. Please listen to me. I need you to know who I am!
- Doubly so in the case of Yellow Diamond, who has been portrayed much less sympathetically than Blue...and Steven managed to get through to her, too!
- In the end, Steven has finally done what his mother couldn't: get the other Diamonds to listen after millennia of ignorance, just like Connie did with her mother. Pink would've been so proud of him!

Legs From Here to Homeworld

Working together, Steven and the Diamonds manage to almost cure Centipeetle (a.k.a. Nephrite). Although the cure doesn't stick, it's still awesome to see that a corrupted Gem was at least able to be fully healed for a short amount of time and that there's still potential for this to be made permanent via White Diamond being there to help them.
- Afterwards, Steven sternly points his finger at these two incredibly powerful alien empresses and yells that it's their responsibility to clean up this mess, completely heedless of how afraid he's been of them before now. Bonus points that he's basically Calling the Old Woman Out to both of them for their dismissive and controlling behavior on his mother's behalf, just like Connie had done with her mother in "Nightmare Hospital".
Centipeetle's reaction to the Diamonds is both awesome and funny. When she sees Yellow and Blue, her first reaction is an audible gasp coupled with a Jaw Drop. Even in her corrupted state, which otherwise messes with a Gem's mental state and all but turns them into a wild animal, she's still capable of recognizing her leaders!
After nearly five seasons and years of build-up, hints, and hype, we finally see White Diamond herself in the flesh - and she does not disappoint. White Diamond is titanic, of a scale that's never before been seen on the show — the camera has to pan up to absorb every detail of White's lustrous, complex form — and she doesn't even have to move to utterly impose Steven, cementing herself as a presence beyond even that of the other Diamonds in under a minute of screentime and with a few simple lines.
- Furthermore, given Blue Diamond's statement about how White hasn't left Homeworld in eons, that means that, assuming this recluseness started before the rebellion, she helped perform the Gem Corruption/Destruction attack from another galaxy.

Familiar

Steven singing the titular song and resolving anew to get through to the other Diamonds.
After so long of struggling and succeeding to rise above Homeworld's view of her kind, Pearl quickly uses that status to her advantage upon getting back there, as she's Beneath Notice and can freely move around, especially right into her "owner" Pink Diamond's room, so she smuggles in Amethyst, Garnet, and Connie with her gem.

Together Alone

Not only do Garnet and Opal try and defend Stevonnie, but a random pair of Jades fuse and join in too, thrilled at not being the "only one".
Over the course of only a few minutes of interacting with them, Steven already seems to have forged the beginnings of a connection with Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl. While already deferential towards Steven, viewing him as Pink Diamond, it take very little time to get them to loosen up and start outright enjoying his company. Especially amazing, given that Yellow Pearl is so rigid and formal, that the mere idea of enjoying anything had to be explained to her. Truly, Steven can befriend anyone.

Escapism

Connie managing to keep her and Steven's spirits up despite their situation.
Steven astral projecting all the way to Earth from Homeworld.
It takes the whole episode, but even as the Watermelon Steven he's controlling deteriorates, Steven finally manages to make it back to Beach City and contact Lion, Greg, and Bismuth for help.
It's revealed that Bismuth made the right call in staying on Earth to help Greg rebuild the temple, watch over the planet as well as a poofed Lapis and Peridot. While it's unclear if Lapis and Peridot will recover in time to help fight, Bismuth is there. And so are Greg and Lion.

Change Your Mind

Since her debut, Blue Diamond's grief over losing Pink has always been at the forefront. But for how much she has dearly missed her family member, it's been made abundantly clear that she was a big part of the reason why Pink left in the first place. Even after discovering Pink's "alive" and getting her back (actually Steven), Blue continues to scorn and shame Pink for doing what she thinks is unacceptable, only continuing the abuse that drove Pink away to begin with. Steven finally calling her out on it is quite cathartic, albeit bittersweet that it is him and not Pink herself telling off her supposed family.
Steven: How many times did you lock her in here? How many times did you make her cry?
Steven ditching Pink Diamond's outfit in favor of the star-emblazoned T-shirt, jeans, and sandals that make up his signature outfit. In essence, he's not only moving on from trying to emulate his mother for the Crystal Gems (as Rose), but defying Homeworld's expectations of what he's supposed to be (as Pink) in favor of who he wants to be (as himself).
The quiet determination Steven has when vowing to save the other Crystal Gems.
Blue Diamond cementing she's on Steven, not "Pink Diamond's," side when she stops Yellow Diamond from trying to put Steven and Connie back in the tower.
Yellow Diamond: Take them back to the tower NOW!
Blue Diamond: I. Won't.
The fight itself is pretty awesome - two literally statuesque beings fighting in pure fury, smashing through walls and leaving craters in the floor as they blast and punch each other.
- And then there's the way Blue heartbreakingly and magnificently shuts down Yellow's hypocrisy when she expresses outrage at Blue fighting her. This serves as a demonstration Blue now finally understands how badly the two of them abused Pink as well as the Gems who serve them for eons and is owning up to her part in making sure they're never seeing Pink again.
  Yellow Diamond: You'd hurt a fellow Diamond?!
  Blue Diamond: Didn't WE hurt Pink?! She was suffering in silence for ages! Just like our Gems! Just like ME! And I know you're suffering in silence too!
Peridot taunts White Diamond, just as she taunted Yellow Diamond in the past.
Peridot: Try and catch me, you enlarged bipedal housing unit!
Steven managing to get through to Blue, to the point that she actually stands up to Yellow for him.
Steven throwing his shield at Yellow Diamond's hand when she tries to attack, knocking her off-guard.
- Even better, this actually nullifies Yellow Diamond's lightning, which has been demonstrated as a One-Hit KO on everyone she's used it against up to this point, thanks to Steven being half-human.
- Also worth noting: Blue Diamond isn't poofed by this.
- Another note: Not only does Steven get through to Blue Diamond, but also Yellow Diamond as well.
White Diamond's palace attaching to and taking control of Pink's legship.
Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot piloting Blue and Yellow’s handships and managing to knock down White’s palace.
Bismuth: Always did want to uppercut an upper-crust!
Steven passing up the opportunity to escape Homeworld so that he can speak to White Diamond and convince her to heal the corrupted Gems.
Steven's method to get the Crystal Gems to reform? By fusing with them. While this does bring back Smoky Quartz, we get new fusions, including Steven and Pearl fusing into Rainbow Quartz, and Steven and Garnet fusing into Sunstone!
- Steven and Garnet's bond is so strong that Steven doesn't even need to dance in order to fuse with Ruby and Sapphire.
- Rainbow Quartz 2.0 deserves a mention for not only being able to float Mary Poppins-style with his parasol, made from Steven's shield and Pearl's spear, but can close the parasol and fly around on it like a witch's broom, complete with a rainbow contrail. Sunstone also gets a mention for being strong enough to tank being stepped on by the leg ship and then push it off of herself on her own!
- And then all four of them fuse, marking the debut of the first quintuple fusion: Obsidian!
  - Obsidian's appearance is pure awesome. Firstly, they're freaking huge. Secondly, they're essentially a living being made of lava. Thirdly, their Gem weapon is a sword; not just your average Cool Sword, but a burning-super-death sword, with their component's weapons combined as the hilt and handle, and their own generated lava as the blade, the combined construction so large that it takes four of Obsidian's eight hands to wield it. Said sword is used to cleave the Diamond Mecha's arms asunder. This deserves special mention, as until now modern Homeworld tech has proven impervious (at least from the outside) to everything the Crystal Gems could throw at it. Obsidian? They shred the Diamonds personal ships like a hot knife through butter. Obsidian might only be one Gem higher than Alexandrite, which is not even enough to match the size of the Diamond Mecha, but that one Gem being a Diamond, even the (potentially) weakest Diamond, definitely shows that in this particular case... size doesn't matter.
  - Obsidian also confirms one piece of Steven Universe lore, that they (or the version of them that was made up of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Rose) is the temple fusion and thus the guardian and manifestation of all the Crystal Gems.
  - An understated moment during Obsidian's hectic climb is right after Connie's knocked from her handhold on Peridot's trash saucer and plummets, only to be caught by Obsidian. What does Connie, little human Connie, do as soon as she sees the gigantic Diamond mecha gear up for another attack and the auxiliary Gems have all been knocked out? Brandish her newly-crafted sword without an ounce of fear and tells Obsidian that SHE'S got this. Foolhardy? Yes. Crazy? Oh definitely. Awesome? You're damn right.
The Crystal Gems vs White Diamond. White Diamond effortlessly corrupting them into extensions of herself and using them against Steven and Connie is Nightmare Fuel of the highest grade, but it also shows just how powerful the leader of Homeworld is.
Amethyst Taking the Bullet for Steven by pushing him out of the way when White Diamond fires her Eye Beams at him.
Amethyst: Hey, White... dirtwad! (panting) That all you got?!
Connie vs. Pearl. Despite Pearl being possessed by White Diamond and being made "perfect," Connie is still able to hold her own. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, the camera cuts to Connie reacting to Steven being grabbed by the other possessed Crystal Gems, and we see that Connie actually managed to disarm Pearl offscreen! Of course, Connie loses focus and gets disarmed herself, but it's a cool detail nonetheless.
Pink Steven bluntly telling, then screaming at White Diamond that Pink Diamond is dead, so loud that he nearly blows her away.
White Diamond: What is this?! Where is Pink?!
Pink Steven: (whispers) She's gone...
White Diamond: What did you say?! ANSWER ME!!
Pink Steven: She's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!!
- Granted Pink Steven is living proof that Steven is not Pink or Rose, there's an element to it as though Rose were posthumously calling out White Diamond on 2 levels: (A) she's defending that her son can be whatever he wants to be and (Letter Number B) she's declaring her freedom to be whoever she wants to be, even Steven's dead mother.
Pink Steven tanks the combined firepower of the possessed Crystal Gems and the Diamond Authority with his shields, then knocks them all down by reflecting all their beams in one move. The fact that Pink Steven is just one half of Steven's self, the half that represents his full magical potential, and he does it with no visible effort, hints at just how powerful Steven truly is.
Really, the entire sequence with Pink Steven acts as the climax to a major part of Steven's character arc: his identity issues stemming from Rose. Throughout the series, we've seen Steven deal with the fact that so many people, from the Crystal Gems to Homeworld to the Diamonds, struggle to differentiate between Steven and Rose/Pink. It's no surprise that, eventually, Steven himself starts to wonder if he's not just an extension of Pink Diamond, suppressing her memories. And now White Diamond hammers him with that exact fear. And then... Pink Steven emerges to prove, definitively, that yes, Steven is his own person, not Pink Diamond, or Rose Quartz. Is it any wonder he can't help but laugh joyously afterwards?
The animators get one with the scene of Steven and Pink Steven fusing back together. The animation is stunning. Why, you may ask? It's done by Disney's own James Baxter.
- Special mention has to go to White Diamond in the background. With such a massive, complex character moving so smoothly in the background, it must be CGI right? The pencil test says otherwise.
After going through a huge breakdown following Pink Steven, White calls Steven a child in a fit of rage. Steven's response is, "I am a child. What's your excuse?" How does White Diamond react to that one quote from Steven? She blushes with embarrassment. And that blush is what it takes to break through her hard shell and show real emotion. First, she thinks something is wrong after seeing her puppets and even her ship blushing but then she realizes she is the one blushing and something is wrong with her. After she loses control, White becomes confused and upset, wondering who she even is anymore if she's not perfect. Steven replies that if she lets everyone be themselves, she can also let herself be herself.
- Extra awesome is that Steven's retort is the same line as to how the pilot was resolved.
- Even better? While White is having her tantrum and slamming her fists, Connie and Steven are just laughing like it's a carnival ride.
- Connie's delighted reaction to Steven's response is basically her knowing how much of a sick burn it was.
The combined Diamond ship landing on the beach right as Sadie Killer and the Suspects finish an epic performance of "Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart".
Throughout the whole episode, Steven manages to get through to all 3 Diamonds: First Blue, then Yellow, and finally White! What happens afterwards is both awesome and heartwarming at the same time: The corrupted Gems are finally healed! Even better? The moment Jasper sees Steven, she gets ready to fight, but stops the instant she sees all the gems, even the Diamonds. After Amethyst clarifies what is going on, Jasper just hides her face in the water in embarrassment.
Steven singing "Change Your Mind" at the end of the episode. The song flatly states that he doesn't need love or respect from others because he loves and respects himself- but he'll happily accept it from them if they just accept him as himself.

Awesome / Steven Universe Season 5

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Awesome / Steven Universe Season 5

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