History Recap / StevenUniverseS1E49JailBreak

->'''Garnet:''' Yikes. They are really bad for each other.

-->'''Garnet:''' Yikes. They are really bad for each other.

See you next season, folks!

JustForFun/TheOneWith "Stronger Than You".

* JoinTheArmyTheySaid:
-->'''Peridot:''' "Go to Earth," they said. "It'll be easy," they said.

* OffModel:
** While Garnet is fighting Jasper, Jasper's visor is already broken in the scene just before Garnet actually breaks it.
** When Peridot tries to destabilize Steven, her hand holding the destabilizer is a normal hand rather than her signature floating rods.

* Hypocrite: Jasper sees Gem Fusion as a sign of weakness. After getting her butt kicked by Garnet, she decides it's necessary after all and convinces Lapis to fuse with her.

* TheReveal: Garnet is revealed to be a semi-permanent fusion of two Gems, Ruby and Sapphire.

Finally, Sapphire and the little red Gem spot each other across a chamber. Sapphire calls the other Gem's name: Ruby. Ruby and Sapphire rush toward each other and the pair meet in the middle of the chamber with a deep hug. There's a tearful reunion in which they each make sure the other is okay. Sapphire leans in to kiss Ruby's tears away, Ruby holds her up and they do the TwirlOfLove, laughing with overflowing happiness at being together once again. As they spin around, they begin to glow and merge, and before Steven's very eyes, the light crescendos, revealing the new, joyously re-fused '''''GARNET'''''!

* BlackComedy: As everyone stares in slack-jawed horror after witnessing Lapis drag herself and Jasper into the ocean, Garnet makes a quip about how ill suited the two are.

— which suddenly turns into a shackle around Malachite's arm. Jasper's voice demands to know what Lapis is doing. Lapis replies that she's done being ''anyone's'' prisoner. More and more water chains clamp around Malachite's appendages, and begin dragging the struggling fusion Gem inexorably into the ocean. Jasper protests, and struggles to break free, but Lapis's will is so strong that Jasper cannot break free from the fusion. Lapis pulls Malachite's body into the deeps.

* NotableOriginalMusic: "Stronger Than You".

* IAmSong: Garnet sings a song titled [[https://soundcloud.com/aivisura/steven-universe-stronger-than-you-feat-estelle "Stronger Than You"]] after re-fusing and ''during'' her entire fight with Jasper. It's about how she is the embodiment of Ruby and Sapphire's love, and that the love of her friends also gives her strength. According to the composer, the song was meant to represent the love Ruby and Sapphire have for each other, Garnet's joy at being re-fused, and her indomitable spirit. It also features an update of her synthbeat {{Leitmotif}} to go with her new design, and is the first time in the show's run that Estelle has been able to use her R&B vocal style to its full extent, and [[TheCastShowoff it shows]].

** Unlike other fusion themes, Lapis and Jasper's themes never harmonize properly, hinting at the unstable nature of the fusion. In addition, during their fusion dance, Lapis's theme is a lot louder than Jasper's theme, hinting at the fact that Lapis intends to take over the fusion.

* FingerWag: Garnet fags her finger mockingly at Jasper mid-battle.

* BigNo: Steven yells "not" in reaction to Jasper and Lapis fusing.

Steven wakes to beautiful, distant, ethereal singing and as he calls for the other Gems, is stricken breathless by the harsh memory of what happened to Garnet. He immediately launches into action, finding that the forcefield imprisoning him isn't much of an obstacle. He begins looking for the other Gems, and stumbles across another prisoner: a tiny red gem no taller than Steven himself. Steven asks if she needs help. She freaks out and turns away, hiding her face from him... before it dawns on her that he's out. She asks how, and he demonstrates. On hearing the singing again, she immediately asks to be let out because she must! find! Sapphire! Even as Steven tries to learn the new Gem's name and who Sapphire is, the little red Gem is clearly panicked without Sapphire, and once safely out of her cell, begins racing up and down the halls screaming for Sapphire, who has paused in her singing.

The first occupied cell they run across, however, is occupied by Lapis Lazuli. Steven offers to let her out, but she refuses, saying that their captors will decide what will happen to her and to Steven's family when they return to Homeworld. She tells Steven that only accepting their fate will give them a chance. Steven insists that they must stand up to Jasper and Peridot because they're mean. Lapis says that's why there's no fighting them.

-->'''Steven:''' That's why we ''have'' to fight them.

The little red Gem, still quite distressed from being apart from Sapphire, snaps that she doesn't have time for this, and races off. Steven promises to come back for Lapis before attempting to follow her. It's too late: the red Gem is gone.

In his search, Steven hears Jasper and Peridot arguing. Peridot is still insisting that her mission has been disrupted, but Jasper cuts her off. As Steven hides from them, Jasper punches the wall to make Sapphire stop singing again. She then tells a sullen Peridot that Rose Quartz takes greater precedence than her mission. She orders Peridot to set a course for Homeworld. Peridot complies, grumbling about it all the while.

Once they're gone, Steven moves to free Sapphire, who has resumed singing. She is a blue gem, also no bigger than Steven, and is surprised that Steven got out; she immediately realizes that it's his human half allowing him to move through the fields unhindered. The moment he lets her out, she hears the other Gem calling and runs off at SuperSpeed, dragging Steven along for the ride like a human-shaped banner.

Finally, Sapphire and the little red gem spot each other across a chamber. Sapphire calls the other gem's name: Ruby. Ruby and Sapphire rush toward each other and the pair meet in the middle of the chamber with a deep hug. There's a tearful reunion in which they each make sure the other is okay. Sapphire leans in to kiss Ruby's tears away, Ruby holds her up and they do the TwirlOfLove, laughing with overflowing happiness at being together once again. As they spin around, they begin to glow and merge, and before Steven's very eyes, the light crescendos, revealing the new, joyously re-fused '''''GARNET'''''!

-->'''Garnet:''' Oh, Steven. We already love you.

-->'''Garnet:''' It's okay, Steven. I'm ''never'' alone.

Jasper arrives, and expresses disgust that Ruby and Sapphire have fused again into Garnet, sneering that fusion is just a cheap trick to make weak gems seem stronger. She dismissively says she already seen what they are. Garnet laughs and says Jasper really hasn't. As the fight begins, Garnet pretty much tells Jasper off while gracefully and acrobatically dodging the big, beefy gem's attacks. The telling off takes the form of a song, in which Garnet explains the source of her strength and power.

-->♫ ''I am made of love -- and it's stronger than you.'' ♫

Steven frees Amethyst and Pearl and they race to the bridge. They quickly subdue a petulant Peridot, tying her with Amethyst's whip, and Pearl takes over the ship, returning its course to Earth. Meanwhile, the fight between Garnet and Jasper has devastated the insides of the handship -- their brawl knocks them through level after level. Garnet throws Jasper into the reactor core of the ship, causing an explosion that disables the ship and sends it crashing to Earth.

Thanks to the shake made by the exploding core, Peridot gets free of Amethyst's hold and worms her way to an escape pod and launches to Earth. Garnet gets to the bridge to inform the ship is going down and they need to prepare for the crash. Steven says Lapis is still imprisoned, but Garnet says there's no time. The ship crashes to Earth, landing palm open on the hill atop which the temple is built. Lion searches the wreckage until he finds them and roars to free them. Steven's bubble has saved them again, and Steven is delighted that Garnet is a fusion all the time. Amethyst and Pearl are astonished, but a little dismayed since they planned to surprise him introducing both Ruby and Sapphire to him for his birthday and now they can't. Steven jokes that they can still do it and he'll pretend to be surprised.

There's movement in the wreckage. Jasper lives! She's weak, and wounded, but not down. She angrily sneers that the only reason Garnet beat her was because of fusion -- something the huge gem had derided as a cheap trick to make weak gems seem stronger. She grumbles that they'd have no chance if she had someone to fuse with. More movement in the wreckage reveals that Lapis Lazuli has survived as well. She spreads her water wings and attempts to fly away, but Jasper is too quick; she snatches the blue gem by the ankle and pulls her to the ground. Jasper asks Lapis to fuse with her. Lapis is appalled and astonished at the very idea. Steven cries out to her not to do it. Jasper reminds her how much she hates the Crystal Gems, how long they kept her a prisoner, and how they're traitors to their own kind -- that it would be Lapis's opportunity for revenge. She just needs to say "Yes".

Lapis thinks about it for a second then comes to a conclusion. She offers her hand to Jasper, to the Crystal Gems' dismay. Jasper does a quick fusion dance with a passive Lapis, then turns to grin evilly at Garnet, in anticipation of a brutal beating. The fusion turns the two gems into a new, horrifying, monstrous fusion: Malachite -- who is a giant of a creature. She has six arms, four of which she uses as legs. And now, with access to Lapis's water powers, she laughs, and summons a giant water hand --

-- which suddenly turns into a shackle around Malachite's arm. Jasper's voice demands to know what Lapis is doing. Lapis replies that she's done being ''anyone's'' prisoner. More and more water chains clamp around Malachite's appendages, and begin dragging the struggling fusion Gem inexorably into the ocean. Jasper protests, and struggles to break free, but Lapis's will is so strong that Jasper cannot break free from the fusion. Lapis pulls Malachite's body into the deeps.

--> '''Malachite:''' [in Lapis Lazuli's voice]: Let's stay on this miserable planet -- together!

As they vanish beneath the waves without a ripple, the Crystal Gems and Lion are all standing in stunned awe at how it has all ended.

Garnet breaks the silence.

-->'''Garnet:''' Yikes. They were really bad for each other.

* BigDamnReunion: Thanks to Steven's help, the two gems Ruby and Sapphire have a joyous reunion before TheReveal of re-fusing into Garnet.

* BittersweetEnding: Steven and the Gems manage to save the Earth, but Lapis sacrificed herself to imprison Jasper in the ocean, and Peridot is somewhere on Earth. There's also still the problem of Yellow Diamond, [[TheManBehindTheMan The Gem Behind The Gem]], who may show up later.
* BlackComedy: As everyone stares in slack-jawed horror after witnessing Lapis drag herself and Jasper into the ocean, Garnet makes a quip on how ill suited the two are.

** Garnet proves true what she said in "Alone Together":

* CardboardPrison: Steven escapes from his prison cell 33 seconds after waking up, since the ForceFieldDoor of the cell is made to destabilize the physical forms of gems. Steven, a half-gem with an organic body, can walk straight through with the only effects being yellow TronLines on his body and small electric shocks.

* CripplingOverspecialization: The gem destabilizing technology hurts Gems and only Gems, allowing half-Gem Steven to easily bypass everything in his way.
* CueTheSun: The Crystal Gems were captured in the night time, and it's dawn by the time the ship crashes on the hill.
* CurbStompBattle: Pearl, Steven and Amethyst defeat Peridot easily. Steven takes care of her gem destabilizer, Amethyst ties her up with the whip, and Pearl takes control of the ship from her.

** Lapis's dialogue in refusing Steven's rescue ("if we do everything they say, they might go easy on us") is highly reminiscent of domestic abuse victims.

* FanDisservice: Lapis and Jasper's FusionDance. It's a short, pretty ballet-esque routine, but Jasper's SlasherSmile and Lapis's passiveness throughout the whole thing make it ''very'' creepy.

* {{Flashback}}: Steven, upon regaining consciousness, flashbacks to Garnet being defeated near the end of "The Return", with her two gems falling against a black background. It handily shows that her gems change to blue and red (which wasn't visible the first time around because of the green light covering everything), hinting they're separate individuals
* ForceFieldDoor: The cells on Peridot's ship use forcefields which destabilize the physical forms of Gems. What they fail to realize is that Steven's organic, so he can just walk right through and even let others out by blocking the energy with his body. Though the longer Steven holds out against it, the more it progresses against his body, he never needs to do so long enough for it to matter.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:

** Sapphire and Ruby seemed to know who Steven was without him telling either.

* HybridPower: While being half-human is rather inconvenient for Steven most of the time, in this episode it actually gives him an advantage; having an organic body rather than the body of a regular gem allows him to simply walk through the energy door of his cell, and renders him immune to the gem disruptor.
* IAmSong: Garnet sings a song titled [[https://soundcloud.com/aivisura/steven-universe-stronger-than-you-feat-estelle "Stronger Than You"]] after re-fusing and ''during'' her entire fight with Jasper. It's about how she is the embodiment of Ruby and Sapphire's love, and that the love of her friends also gives her strength. According to the composer, the song was meant to represent the love Ruby and Sapphire have for each other, Garnet's joy at being re-fused, and her indomitable spirit. It also features an update of her synthbeat {{Leitmotif}} to go with her new design, and is the first time in the show's run that Estelle has been able to use her R&B vocal style to its full extent, and [[TheCastShowoff it shows.]]

* IShallTauntYou: Garnet's song, "Stronger Than You" is not just her IAmSong -- it's also a verbal smackdown, indicating Jasper has no idea how amazing a fusion is when the two fusing Gems love each other. It's also used to cheerfully and cheekily imply that Jasper can't really lay a glove on Garnet, and that Jasper's rage and brutality just comes from being single.

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: The [[OneHitKill Gem destabilizer]]. In the previous episode, Jasper was able to [[CurbStompBattle very quickly and easily defeat Garnet]] with it. But this time Garnet was ready for it, dodging it repeatedly before taking it away and breaking it in half.

* LetsGetDangerous: Garnet has an interesting ''inversion'' of this. When she fights Jasper, her Stoic personality goes away and she spends the entire battle smiling and singing. And yet surprisingly fights ''better'' than when she was serious.

* MusicalWorldHypotheses: Garnet's song appears to Alternate Universe or All In Their Head. Not only is it odd that she's singing it while fighting Jasper and seemingly coming up with at least one line specifically referring to Jasper, but [[IntersceneDiegetic it can be heard even in distant scenes]] and [[DiegeticSwitch when Garnet is talking to the other gems in the control room]].

* NoSell: The Homeworld gems use Gem-destabilizing technology in the form of tuning fork-like instruments and force fields to attack and imprison, respectively. However, since they are meant to disrupt normal Gems' HardLight bodies, they are entirely ineffective against Steven, whose body is organic in nature.
* NotableOriginalMusic: "Stronger Than You."

** When Peridot tries to destabilize Steven, her hand holding the destabilize is a normal hand rather than her signature floating rods.

* TheReveal: Garnet is revealed to be a semi-permanent fusion of two gems, Ruby and Sapphire.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Steven's very existence as a half-gem allows him to escape his prison and free everyone else, since the containment technology of the jail cells are purely anti-gem. If it weren't for Peridot and Jasper's failure to predict that Steven could effortlessly thwart the force fields, they would have successfully taken their prisoners back to Homeworld for interrogation and/or worse.

** Since "The Return" skipped its credits, the ones for this episode are double length, giving enough room for a longer version of the ending theme WithLyrics.
* StunnedSilence: The Crystal Gems don't have word to say after Lapis hijacks the Malachite fusion and drags it underwater until Garnet [[BlackComedy breaks it]].

* TailorMadePrison: The cells on Peridot's ship are made to contain gems. The [[ForceFieldDoor Force Field Doors]] of the cells use technology that destabilizes gems' physical forms if they touch it (and apparently also hurts them). This works against them- while it's extremely effective against gems, [[HalfHumanHybrid Steven]] doesn't have a HardLight body like gems, so he is able to easily escape and let everyone else out.

* TronLines: Steven gets glowing yellow cracks across his skin when he's being affected by the energies of the gem disruptor and the ForceFieldDoor. Since he's organic, the energy can't actually do what it's supposed to, and they fade harmlessly afterward.

* TheVillainSucksSong: "Stronger Than You" is both an IAmSong and long process of Garnet telling Jasper she had no idea what she'd up against.