"Now, they finally get to have each other."
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Opening
- The opening bar and line, which was originally limited to just Steven and the Crystal Gems has now changed. It expands slightly to add in Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth before fully expanding to reveal that Connie, Lars, the Off-Colors, the Diamonds, Spinel, and the formerly corrupted gems are also part of the song.
- Spinel sitting on Yellow Diamond's shoulder is adorable. She doesn't seem to have the lines on her face anymore, signifying that she really is recovering from her Diamond's abandonment.
- Around town, it seems that the uncorrupted gems have integrated into the population of Beach City and are now friends with the humans.
- The fact that STEVEN CAN DRIVE. Really makes you feel proud of him.
- In the quick pan shot of Beach City, you can see Lars in the background embracing his parents.
- The campfire at the end of the opening.
- Connie looks lovingly at Steven.
- Peridot standing up and repeating "Steven Universe Future~" is adorable.
Little Homeschool
- The first episode starts with Steven healing a Corrupted Cherry Quartz Gem and gleefully introducing himself in confidence that he is Steven Universe. After spending five seasons suffering from an identity crisis with his mother's gem, it's nice to see that Steven has finally made peace with himself.
- The montage of what everyone's doing with their lives:
- Lars has opened up his own bakery and it has a space theme. He even smiles and waves to Steven as he drives by!
- Connie's preparing for college. On her study table you can see the bracelet Steven returned to her during their first real meeting, as well as pictures of Lion and Steven, and a model of Dogcopter.
- Sadie Killer and the Suspects are performing.
- The Crystal Gems are teaching the newly uncorrupted Gems how to live their lives on Earth.
- Amythest briefly tickles Steven during their lunch break.
- During Steven's fight with Jasper, he takes the time to save some baby birds who fall out of a tree.
- After all these years, Steven and Jasper finally find some common ground when Steven decides to challenge Jasper to a fight. While it starts out as standard "Hero vs. Villain" fare, Jasper's reduced to uproarious (and non-malicious) laughter when Steven gains the upper hand. Their talk afterward implies that, while Jasper's not quite cool with him yet, she has grown to respect him a little more.
Guidance
- Amethyst helps the corrupted Gems find new jobs:
- Many of the Quartzes are helping Mr. Smiley run Funland, and Mr. Smiley is walking in the amusement park with a big grin on his face.
- Andy has a Gem helping perform skywriting.
- Larimar finding joy in giving toys to children and hearing their laughter is quite sweet. It's also very comforting to Steven: despite the disastrous outcome of his attempt at guidance, there was at least one Gem whom he actually managed to help.
Rose Buds
- The Famethyst are back, and they're shown to have become great friends with the Zoo-mans.
- While it's not shown in great detail, the Zoomans finally get to visit their home planet after spending all their lives in captivity.
- It's easy to miss, but they are no longer wearing the earrings with the voice that tells them what to do - they are free to do whatever they like.
- Despite their mutual discomfort due to their mixed history with Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond, Steven and the Rose Quartzes from the Zoo eventually overcome it and reconcile.
- Steven realizes that since Rose/Pink made both him and the other Rose Quartzes, this technically makes them siblings. Once Steven explains the concept to them, the other Quartzes are more than happy to be Steven's "sisters."
- Now that the Famethyst are all free, none of them seem to hold anything against Holly Blue and they genuinely want her to join in having fun with them.
- The Zoomans seem to be getting along with her too, seeing as Wy-Six implies that she's been teaching him how to be strict.
Volleyball
- When Steven first loses control and turns pink after Pink Pearl/Volleyball informs him that it was Pink Diamond that caused her crack, he explains it away as 'baggage'. Pink Pearl reaches out and asks if he's alright.
- When Steven loses control of himself, Pearl steps protectively in front of Volleyball, shielding the damaged Gem both physically and mentally.
- Pearl helps Pink Pearl/Volleyball accept her trauma over the way Pink Diamond treated her.Pearl: I'm sorry for not believing you. It looks like I'm still making excuses for her.
Volleyball: Is that what I've been doing?! But... She didn't mean to!
Pearl: But you were hurt! Badly hurt!
Volleyball: I was badly hurt... How did you stop hurting?
Pearl: [embraces Volleyball tightly] I didn't. - Mega Pearl tells Steven that our Pearl knew Pink wanted to change but never understood why, implying Pink knew she mistreated Volleyball and sought to become better.
Bluebird
- In a bittersweet way, Greg cutting his hair to free himself counts as this. He didn't have to cut his hair. But an alternate option would've been to watch his son reluctantly destroy everyone he's ever loved and every thing he's held dear. (Not to mention he's not crazy about dying before his son's eyes.) He chose cut his hair at the expense of sparing Steven a Sadistic Choice.
- Doubles as Awesome, but Steven's reaction to Greg losing his beloved mane counts as this. Yes, Greg escaped without any serious damage done, but his distress at losing his hair has Steven determined to make Aquamarine and Ruby pay. No one messes with Steven's loved ones.Steven: [in Tranquil Fury] Father, go inside. [goes Pink Steven after Greg leaves] I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!
- In a weird sort of way, Eyeball and Aquamarine bonding over their mutual hatred of Steven.Eyeball: WOWY WOW! He is SO annoying!
Aquamarine: I hate him SOOO much!
(Beat. The two look at each other, then happily hold hands.)
Both: I know! Me too! [promptly fuse again] - Their baby might be all grown up and possibly on a different magnitude of power than them, but Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl won't just stand around if someone's messing with Steven.Bluebird: [one second away from being squashed like a bug by Alexandrite] Oh no.
- Although Steven regrets that trusting Bluebird lead to Greg cutting his hair, Greg doesn't blame him. In fact, he's proud that Steven tried giving Bluebird a chance and admits his son's ability to give others a chance is part of what he loves about him.
A Very Special Episode
- Rainbow Quartz 2.0's interactions with Onion are surprisingly cute. Some of Onion's creepy messages written on the wall when he destroys the house are "Best Friends 4Ever" (complete with a crude drawing of himself and Rainbow next to it) and "I <3 Rainbow". And also "Steven is cool too".
- When Pearl is trapped with Onion and calls Steven for help, she takes the time to tell him "You were never like this! You were such a good kid! I'm so sorry I never told you that!"
- Steven rushing to catch Onion when he jumps off a stack of furniture.
- Onion actually looks genuinely panicked when he accidentally drives the Little Homeworld Gems off a cliff. It turns out he didn't really, but it's nice to see Onion seems to have finally grown some degree of a conscience.
Snow Day
- The Gems' attempts to spend time with Steven are really touching, especially given how much Steven craved the Gems' attention in early episodes. Though he feels like they're babying him and things take a bit to be straightened out, it's wonderful to see them try.
- Pearl shapeshifts for the first time in six thousand years, and the moment does not go unnoticed. Amethyst and Garnet both beam to see her do it, Garnet's grin trembling in a way it usually only does when she sees a new fusion, and the both of them Group Hug her. Even Steven, who's otherwise in a bad mood, smiles genuinely and says "good for her".
- All the development the Crystal Gems have gone through apparently even means Sugilite can just casually be around again, Garnet and Amethyst able to work together without losing themselves like they'd always done before.
- At the end, after Steven admits to the Crystal Gems that he's feeling babied, they say that they just want to spend time with him because they love him, but are willing to let him get back to his work. Instead, he tags Garnet, who decides that Steven Tag should be updated before shifting into the new Steven.
Why So Blue?
- Steven and Lapis quickly bond with a bud alien. It even looks a lot like Pumpkin.
- Steven reassuring Lapis when she gets mad at herself for blowing up at the other Lapises.
- Nice Lapis is adorable, since she actually picks up on Steven's attempts to redeem her, but rejects them due to Mean Lapis' toxic influence. In the end, she actually leaves her counterpart behind and wants to redeem herself.
- Even after feeling humiliated by them and almost poofing them out of anger, Lapis still approaches the Nice Lapis with a smile and welcomes her when she shows up at the school.
Little Graduation
- Even though Sadie, Lars, and Steven don't hang out anymore, they remain good friends, with Lars and Sadie getting along in-spite of everything that happened between them.
- Shep, in-spite of Steven's accusations of getting between Lars and Sadie, remains a very kind soul to both Steven and Lars.
- Sour Cream lying on Fluorite's head and gently stroking her hair.
- Sadie singing "Looking Forward Now", in which she says that, despite her life up to this point being mostly rubbish, she learned from her mistakes and feels ready to take what the future holds.
Prickly Pair
- Pearl asking if Steven has anything he wants to talk about is heartwarming just because of the fact that she does so at all- it's giving the implication that at least one Crystal Gem is finally becoming aware of the fact that Steven needs help.
- Cactus Steven Giving Steven one of its flowers before he leaves. They had a difficult start, but in the end, the cactus creature cares enough about its creator to leave a memento, showing no signs of resentment.
In Dreams
- After Peridot realizes from seeing Steven's final dream of the episode that her obsession with fixing the Camp Pining Hearts reboot has put Steven under so much pressure to play along, and that he's afraid of her leaving him behind if he doesn't, she quickly assures him they can still hang out together.
- To make this even more poignant, Peridot actually takes her visor off to show her teary eyes. This is the first time we've seen her without it on.
- To show just how far Peridot has grown, she shows genuine concern and worry over Steven's fears instead of her past aloofness, and openly hugs him (something she's only seen doing once before at the sound of thunder).
- The sheer contrast of the imaginary, unfeelingly distant Peridot in Steven's nightmare fading out to the real Peridot frantically calling his name trying to reassure him that she's there for him.
- Remember, Steven's dad also used to watch bad TV shows with a gem, only that was a toxic habit borne out of a desire to avoid facing the discomforts of the real world and abandon their responsibilities. For Steven and Peridot, it's just a moment of relief and escapism, and unlike Greg and Amethyst, they never lash out with their pains, and instead support each other.
Bismuth Casual
- Steven and Bismuth talking about their respective crushes, with Bismuth pushing Steven to go talk to Connie.
- The Reveal that Bismuth is crushing on Pearl has gotten the fandom squeeing like headless chickens all over again.
- Connie is supportive of Steven no matter how bad he feels. Once he opens up about skating, Connie helps him have fun and the two of them accidentally fuse. After they unfuse, they spend the rest of the night holding hands on the skating rink.
- Steven requests a song specifically for Pearl and Bismuth.
- Really, the whole episode is set up as a double-date.
- More Heartwarming in Hindsight, but considering how dismissive Pearl was of Greg making so much money from one of his songs being used as a burger jingle... it's actually doubly cute to see her declaring a garage jingle as her favorite song. Maybe she grew to see the merit in something like that after warming up more to Greg... or just liked the song, and didn't think poorly of it because of Greg's success in the same field.
Together Forever
- Ruby and Sapphire's excitement at Steven revealing he wants to propose to Connie.
- Sapphire calling Ruby 'Beautiful.'
- Steven sets up a picnic for Connie in the place where they first met and she gets very moved by the idea. Then Steven plays a song for Connie about how he wants to spend the rest of his life with her and Connie listens to the whole thing with a constant expression of absolute delight, clearly reciprocating the feelings expressed in the song.
- Steven's picnic even includes little details like jam and biscuits, or juice boxes that led to Connie's eyesight healing. Any other circumstance, Steven's proposal probably would have worked!
- Connie handles Steven's proposal surprisingly well. She's shocked, sure, but she isn't upset at all. In fact, she doesn't even say no, instead answering with a gentle "not now", implying that, while she doesn't want to get married now, she does hope to marry Steven in the future. Adding to this, she attempts to stay and talk things out with Steven even when she realizes her 15-minute study break is over.
- Garnet showing up at the end, after Steven finishes crying, right when he needs her. When asked why she didn't stop him, Garnet tells Steven that there was no future when Steven did not propose to Connie, and she quietly sits with him, even when he starts taking out his anger on her, because he needs an outlet to vent.
- Steven talking to Ruby in the woods about Connie and her listening carefully to everything he tells her. It's reminiscent of the time they spent together in "The Question."
Growing Pains
- In spite of Steven's awkward proposal attempt, Connie still calls Steven to talk, showing that she really wasn't bothered by his actions and still loves him just the same. She's also immediately worried for Steven once he shows signs of something being wrong. She even alleviates his fears about seeing a doctor at the hospital.
- After everything that's happened, Steven being around Connie is only making his stress worse. But before Connie leaves, she revealed that she called Greg, as she didn't feel comfortable leaving Steven alone. Steven lets out a genuine heartfelt thanks, and Connie replies that she'll be waiting for him when he's ready.
- The normally cold Dr. Maheswaran handles Steven's situation with care. She makes an effort to avoid upsetting him and is genuinely worried for him once she learns about his past.
- Dr. Maheswaran is usually confused and exasperated by Steven and Gem matters. Here, she's made progress on becoming more open-minded as promised in "Nightmare Hospital" (both as a doctor and a parent) as she truly takes in the scope of his injuries and the trauma he's endured. She even mentions that Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl consented to being x-rayed by Dr. Maheswaran for research purposes.
- When Steven asks if this means there's "something wrong with his brain", Dr. Maheswaren's immediate response is "Not wrong". This show is clearly not going to stigmatize mental illness.
- As soon as Greg shows up, the tension goes down and Steven returns back to normal.
- Once they get home, Greg assures Steven that it's okay to make mistakes when you're trying to figure yourself out and that it's okay if Steven doesn't solve all of his emotional issues in one night. Greg also makes it clear that he isn't upset that he had to cancel the rest of his tour to come and help Steven.
Mr. Universe
- Steven and Greg having fun on the road trip to Greg's childhood home. It doesn't last, but it's nice to see Steven have fun after all that happened the previous episode.
- While the aftermath of it isn't pretty, it's nice to watch Steven discover Greg's history, including having a living set of parents, especially after Steven believed that Andy was the only extended family he had. Just the joy of Steven going through Greg's old things and seeing his dad as a kid is cute to watch.
- Seeing Greg get fired up over a song that is, despite being an obvious David Bowie riff, cheesy as hell. It was where his new surname came from, after all.
- Despite not being what Steven needed to learn and hear about at that moment, the realization that with how miserable Greg's home life made him (the increasingly miserable yearbook photos, the strictness he speaks about, and even the stack of unopened letters that indicate that they never cared enough to even learn about Rose or Steven), he set out to do everything he could for Steven to be happy in his childhood. It had the unfortunate effect of creating a new set of problems for his son, but it still says that Greg made the conscious effort to avert the same mistakes that his parents made with him.
- For that matter, the fact that Greg wrote to his parents at all - he obviously hated everything they had put him through and probably knew it might be a wasted effort, and yet he still took the time to at least let them know how he was doing.
Fragments
- Jasper and Steven managing to bond through training, and though Jasper puts him through hell, by the end of the montage she gives him a small smile and declares how proud she is - in her aloof way.Jasper: Not bad for three days of work.
- Despite his frustration and wanting the gems to leave him alone, Steven apologises to Pearl when his powers block her from following him. Even if he's angry, he doesn't want to use his powers against them. Pearl visibly switches from scolding to concerned when she sees him struggling to dispel it. She concern for Greg when she finds out what happened with the van the previous night is that he could have been injured in the crash.Pearl: You know how fragile he is.
- At the beginning of the episode, while Garnet and Pearl are pressing Steven to talk to them, Amethyst keeps her tone of voice light and easy and, like Dr. Maheswaran, tries to avoid upsetting Steven when she sees him growing agitated.
Homeworld Bound
- Homeworld looks miles different from when we first saw it. Previously, it had looked cold and utilitarian, with the two-year time-skip at the start of the movie showing some change but not vastly so. Now, many of the structures have since been dismantled to give way to a diverse menagerie of scenery, with visible plant growth, making Homeworld look much more warm and full of life even with what little we see of it. With just a simple warp, we get to see just how much more Gem society has improved even after Steven officially dismantled the empire.
- The confirmation that the Zircons from "The Trial" are alive, well and apparently running for some kind of high political position on Homeworld. One of the Jaspers even states that Blue Zircon is "a face she can trust".
- There are a couple of Freeze Frame Bonuses and cameos that further confirm the safety and happiness of other Gems on Homeworld—Lemon Jade can be seen in the throne room, Pink Diamond's Pebbles are shown running around and play chasing each other and even one of the living walls can be seen walking around in the background, proving that yes, everyone in Era 3 Homeworld has been given freedom.
- Spinel returns, and she's back to being chipper and silly. Just watching her run round and bond with the other Diamonds is sweet to watch. She's arguably closer to her original personality rather than the dark-twisted character from the movie.
- When Spinel sees Steven, whom see she hadn't seen since the ending of the movie, she smiles and sports heart eyes before giving him a big ol' kiss. It's adorable and hilarious.
- When Steven first mentions "glowing pink and swelling up" Spinel drops her usual smile and looks genuinely concerned. Even though she misunderstands the problem as being something wrong physically rather than mentally or emotionally, she shows joy at being able to help Steven when she says, "I know just who you should see!"
- While it winds up not really helping matters, Spinel singing Steven's "I Can Make A Change" song is really sweet, especially since what prompted it was Steven asking what made Spinel change her vengeful thoughts. Despite being angry at it before, that song really stuck with Spinel, and it shows that she truly values how much help Steven was to her.
- This episode displays how much the Diamonds have changed for the better. They have not only ended their harmful ways for good, now they are actively using their powers to help gems and make them better. Also, the ways they use their powers are the exact opposite of how they used them before their respective Heel-Face Turns:
- Yellow used to violently destroy the physical forms of gems with her powers. Now she heals shattered gems and helps them recover their physical forms, or alters the forms of other gems if they ask for it. She even tells Steven her intention to fix the shattered gems made to create the Cluster!
- Blue used to overwhelm and incapacitate gems into devestating bouts of sadness with her emotion-based powers. Now she uses said powers to create blue clouds and make troubled gems feel better.
- White used to crush the self of gems and forcefully implant her own mind in their bodies. Now she uses her powers to channel the selves of other gems so they can rediscover their self-worth.
- Above all else, the Diamonds are clearly enjoying doing this. They're genuinely enjoying helping people.
- Blue's song. When looking at the lyrics the song basically has two messages. The first is Blue telling Steven how he brought happiness to her and Homeworld, and the second is Blue telling Steven that she loves him.
- It's minor, but White is exceedingly gracious and polite in her mannerisms. When she offers to demonstrate to Steven how she uses her powers now using Spinel, she asks her, "May I, Spinel?" Even though Spinel will be the one controlling her via her powers, she still ensures the other's consent. When the demonstration is over, she simply says, "Oh, what fun! Thank you, Spinel." before she excuses herself to speak with Steven alone about his needs. It is a delightful contrast to the movie, where her claims that she's been saying 'please' and 'thank you' "to lower lifeforms" were in expectation of something in return.
- Although the episode ends in a Tearjerker, it shows how the Diamonds really want to help Steven with his problems. When Steven runs out of White's room, we see that Blue and Yellow had been waiting outside, probably hopeful that the session was successful. As Steven continues to run, all three Diamonds call out to him with genuine worry (in a mirror version of the Crystal Gems calling out to Steven when he warped to Homeworld). Blue, Yellow, and White want to try and help Steven because he's family.
- While White is left terrified after seeing Steven's vengeful reaction towards his trauma done by her, when she recovers from the shock, she shows nothing but concern for Steven and wants to continue helping him.
- On the subject of Yellow piecing shattered gems back together, this is equal parts Awesome and Heartwarming as it implies that reviving a shattered gem has always been possible and that Steven doing the same wasn't just a fluke!
- When Yellow repairs the gem from an artificial fusion experiment, another gem is standing on her table and comforts the newly reformed one. Afterwards, while Yellow talks to Steven, the two can be seen cheerfully hugging each other behind her
Everything's Fine
- As heartbreaking as this episode is, it should be noted that ALL of Steven's friends and family can see that something is horribly wrong with him, but give him his space and activities to take his mind off things because it's what he asked for.
- And when all of that is not working, the Crystal Gems, Greg, and Connie, the people he loves the most and love him the most, finally stage an intervention, and corner him at the house to get him to stop hiding.
- It's small, but one of the things Steven feels guilty about is how he lashed out at Greg in "Mr. Universe", indicating that his Broken Pedestal moment towards him was completely fleeting.
- It's an easily missed moment, but just as Steven's using super speed to run off to his next "appointment", one of the shrub Stevens runs up to him, calls him "daddy" and tries to give him a hug.
I Am My Monster
- Before everything goes to hell, we can see Sour Cream and Yellowtail chilling on a boat and listening to some tunes with a shared pair of headphones, and Buck and the former Mayor Dewey walking together with a gem. It's nice to know that, despite one of the resident 'cool kids' having misgivings about his father's own 'coolness', he's not ashamed to be seen spending time with him.
- The Crystal Gems make sure that anyone who arrives is made aware that the monster is Steven so no one will hurt him. Everyone is immediately concerned for his well being.
- Greg refusing to run away from a Gem issue like he has in the past, instead staying to help his son.
- The Diamonds and Spinel show up to return Steven's sandal and immediately try to help when they discover the situation. Even the Cluster shows up to help.
- Consider that the Cluster is supposed to be bubbled. The last time it emerged was because Yellow Diamond forced it out of its bubble. So how did it know that Steven had been corrupted? Did Stevenzilla's rampage unbubble it by accident? Or...did it somehow sense that its friend was in turmoil, and specifically unbubble itself to help Steven?
- When it sinks in to the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds just how far gone Steven is, they are all quick to blame themselves for it and devolve into Inelegant Blubbering. Even when Connie points out how Secretly Selfish it is, their tears and their point are all sincere.Connie: Yes, you hurt him, but this isn't the time to make this all about you! That is not helping! Maybe Steven would care about how sad you are, because he always puts everyone else's feelings first! But he can't do that for you right now, because he needs us this time! We all had Steven when we needed him, but the only person who's never had Steven is Steven. He's always been there for us, so... how can we be there for him now?
- A small thing of note is that while Blue Diamond is weeping once again, she's not unleashing her Emotion Bomb. Everyone's tears and regrets over how badly they treated Steven are truly sincere.
- There's something hilariously adorable about the fact that the whole time the Diamonds are trying to help Steven, Spinel is either sitting on Yellow's shoulder or Blue's hair, and they don't mind at all that she prefers to stay with them instead of helping with the Crystal Gems.
- Ruby and Sapphire, and then Garnet, giving Connie such a look of pride after her Rousing Speech.
- The Crystal Gems come up with a solution to help Stevenzilla. Not by fighting or de-forming him, but by telling him how much they love him and how they will always be there for him. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst and Peridot in particular voice that now that Steven is going through what each of them did, they can empathize and tell him even when he's feeling at his worst, he has people who can accept those feelings and help him work through them.Garnet: Steven, when I fell apart, you were there for me. I want to be there for you now. I'm here, Steven. I'm here.Lapis: This is working? You hear us? Steven!Spinel: (wraps her arms around the entire group)Greg: I'm here, Schtu-Ball! Whatever you need, I'll make it happen! You hear me?!Peridot: Steven! You never gave up on me for reasons I don't understand! I'll do the same for you!Amethyst: I know you feel bad! Believe me, I get it! Sometimes it feels like you're never gonna like yourself, but... (sniffs) It's possible, man!Pearl: Steven, I know how awful it feels to keep a part of yourself secret! You shouldn't have to hide anything from me!
- Their intervention starts with Garnet asking Yellow Diamond to grow her to giant size to hold Steven. When you think about it, there was no need for Garnet to do this herself. The Diamonds could have easily physically restrained Steven, the other Crystal Gems could have grown to giant size, and Steven was already stronger than the Cluster. No, the reason Garnet asked to become giant is because she's basically Steven's mother, and what Steven needed wasn't someone to hold him back, but for a parent to hold him.
- It ends with Connie giving Steven a kiss.Connie: (sighs) Steven... you must have been so afraid to show us this side of yourself. But we're not going anywhere. We're all gonna take care of you the same way you take care of us. You know what? I don't have your powers, but... (kisses him)
- When White Diamond is overwhelmed after she taps into Stevenzilla's emotions and she collapses to the ground, Yellow and Blue rush to catch her, and ask her if she's okay. It really solidifies how much better the relationship has gotten between these three, and how much they really love and care about each other.
- The Diamonds essentially solidify their Heel–Face Turn by helping Steven through this period. In "Homeworld Bound", even though they wanted to help him, the three still didn't really understand just how badly he was feeling and had never exactly made it up to him over how much they hurt him. After owning up to their deplorable past actions, the Diamonds are now fully capable of giving Steven the support he needs.
- When the group comes together to hug and comfort Steven, White initially cautiously just places her hands on Stevenzilla's form, giving him a tentative smile. It might just be a funny moment showing how awkward White is with physical contact, but being that she's perfectly happy to let Gems possess her body, now it suggests that she remembers that her touching Steven is a trigger for him and doesn't want to upset him.
- After the others have come together and Spinel binds them together with her arms, we see that White has nestled against Steven. It's probably the first time that she's ever hugged anyone, let alone Pink.
- The Cluster reaches up to grasp Steven's hand, its special way of joining in with the hug.
- The entirety of the hug has a sweet Stealth Pun to it: "It takes a village to raise a child."
- When Steven comes round and he's shrank back to his human size, we see the group just smiling at him, with nothing but relief and love in their eyes. They don't show fear, or shock, or pain. They're just so happy and relieved to see that he's okay.
- Additionally when Steven tries to apologize, Lion comforts him by licking his face, causing him to giggle. And then he starts to cry and finally lets all of his pain out.
The Future
- Steven has a therapist and is finally getting the help he needs.
- Steven admits that, since his meltdown, the Crystal Gems became very protective and supportive, which is a deep turnaround compared to how they treated him in the entire epilogue series.
- The beginning of the episode has Steven performing the exercise routine he and Garnet used to do together.
- Steven and Connie are still together, and Steven plans on meeting up with her on her school tour, as well as Lars in space via Lion.
- One can interpret several scenes as the two finally accepting their roles in each others lives, yes they want to be together, but right now they want to do their own thing. When Steven gifts Garnet his wedding planner, he asks her to help him plan his own wedding. As in the wedding to Connie. It's taken him a few months to come to terms with what she said, a "not now", not a "never". For all intents and purposes, Connie and Steven end the series engaged, deferring their ceremony until they are both ready.
- Steven and Connie kiss! They finally kiss, full on the lips!
- The Book Ends to the very first episode, "Gem Glow", with the reintroduction of Cookie Cat, only this time with the Gems eating and singing the Cookie Cat jingle. Even Pearl nibbles and swallows a piece of Cookie Cat without any negative reaction!
- Everyone's reactions to Steven leaving is part this and part tearjerker. Their tearful reactions show that they will truly miss him while he is gone.
- Jasper makes an offer to follow Steven to protect him the moment she hears he's planning to leave. And despite her usual self, she's clearly upset that he's leaving.
- She's also presumably staying in Little Homeworld instead of living by herself in a cave in the woods, hinting at the possibility that she is also on the road to figuring herself out.
- The entire exchange, while short, cements the fact that after everything that's happened, she's come to genuinely respect Steven.Jasper: Heard you're leaving. I'm coming with you.
Steven: Jasper, I'm going alone.
Jasper: But who will protect you!?
Steven: I can protect myself.
Jasper: (sighs) ...I know. (punches the ground in frustration) Farewell... my Diamond.
- Steven's gifts to all the gems show how much he cares for them all. As well as how much thought he put into them.
- Peridot received her own Steven shirt.
- Lapis gets a large box of painting supplies.
- Bismuth receives an original Crystal Gem flag, with Steven telling her she is a true Crystal Gem.
- Amethyst gets all of Steven's old video games to play.
- Pearl his old ukulele.
- Steven asks Garnet if she'd be willing to plan his future wedding for him. She gladly accepts.
- Later she reveals she has already begun planning for three hundred and sixty three different scenarios.
- Greg gets to live in the house.
- Even Onion got his Cheeseburger Backpack.
- Tying in to the above, Greg having a home is a nice way of coming full circle the relationship between him and Steven. As flawed as he is note , he still raised Steven as best as he could from the time his son was a baby. One could say Steven gifting his father the house is his way of expressing thanks to Greg for being a loving parent.
- Throughout the episode, Steven is concerned as to why the Crystal Gems seem to care so little that he is leaving. We eventually learn the reason is that Garnet told them to not act sad because if they did, in some possible futures Steven decided to stay. None of the Crystal Gems wanted to ruin this for him.
- The other thing Garnet saw when she peeked into the future? That no matter what, they will be a part of Steven's life.
- When the Gems are telling Steven they'll always be there for him, they're looking down the barrel of the camera, like they're talking directly to the audience. Rebecca Sugar and the Crewniverse are well aware of how the show has helped people with their own mental health issues, and decided to re-assure the audience one last time that You Are Not Alone.
- The final dialogue exchange of the series?Garnet: We love you, Steven.
Steven: I love you, too. - As he leaves Beach City its citizens cheer him on. Onion even runs after him to wave goodbye!
- As Steven is driving away, several living gourds can be seen running around. Given that the Crewniverse revealed that Peridot and Lapis' own Pumpkin passed away during the Time Skip between season 5 and the movie, either Steven himself made more of the living plants or like with the Watermelon Stevens she had her own way of creating offspring.
- After so many years, Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond's last wish finally comes true: that Steven would live happily with his life as a human being.
- The final closing credits card, saying "We will always be your family".
- Since the finale has been aired, fans have been congregating over social media to express their thoughts and thanks to the creators, talking about how Steven Universe is and will always be an essential part of their lives, how many of them grew up with the series (and likewise Steven himself) and how they will take the lessons and messages of the show with them.
- In an interview with Rebecca Sugar,
, in response to the question of how Beach City will change without Steven, Rebecca stated that "There's no way he won't be back to visit often! It'll be waiting for him, it will always be his hometown, and when he comes back he'll find it'll be the same in all the best ways."
