History Recap / StevenUniverseS2E9SwornToTheSword

'''Pearl:''' [[FlatWhat What?]]

--> ♫''You'd do it for him\\
and you would do it again...''♫

--> '''Steven:''' If you're the one protecting me, then who's the one protecting ''you''?!

--> '''Pearl:''' Why won't you just let me do this for you, ''[[WrongNameOutburst Rose]]''?!

-->'''Pearl:''' Rose made me feel like I was ''everything''.

* OffModel: Amethyst switches to her original outfit for one shot when Steven is talking to her and Garnet.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The outfit Connie uses for sword training halfway through isn't (just) a WholeCostumeReference to the ones Gohan and Piccolo from ''Manga/DragonBall'' wore. It's the kind of outfit worn for the real Indian martial art [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaripayattu Kalaripayattu]]. Connie, of course, is ethnically Indian.

* RealityEnsues:
** Garnet's version of Pearl's attempts to protect Rose during the war show what the reality of BodyguardingABadass really is, with Pearl pointlessly throwing herself into danger against opponents Rose could have easily handled, and getting poofed repeatedly as a result.
** Steven and Connie attempt to prove ThePowerOfFriendship by teaming up against Pearl in a sparring match. As soon as Pearl gets over her shock and starts fighting back, they [[CurbStompBattle lose in about a second.]] She's a superhuman with at least 6,000 years of combat experience, and they are two kids. Fortunately, the match wasn't as important as the discussion that followed it.

* SelfServingMemory: During the "Do It for Her" montage, Pearl shows Steven and Connie a scene of her heroically jumping in front of Rose to defend her from a tough-looking Gem. When ''Garnet'' explains Pearl's tendency to [[StupidSacrifice risk her life unnecessarily]], we get a shot of Pearl throwing herself at the same Gem and [[RealityEnsues getting poofed as a result]].

** "Why won't you just let me do this for you, ''[[WrongNameOutburst Rose]]''?!"

** "Why won't you just let me do this for you, ''[[WrongNameOutburst Rose]]''?"

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Pearl is suddenly able to move a huge quantity of wind/mist to enshroud the arena, though it may be as much a function of the location as her abilities.

* ActionGirl: Connie was never exactly defenseless, but here she trained with Pearl to become a true threat on the battlefield.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The outfit Connie uses for sword training halfway through isn't (just) a WholeCostumeReference to the ones Gohan and Piccolo from ''Manga/DragonBall'' wore. It's the kind of outfit worn for the real Indian martial art [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaripayattu Kalaripayattu]].

* HeroicSacrifice: A flashback to the gem war shows that Pearl had a worrying tendency to perform such sacrifices to protect the much stronger Rose Quartz, most of which were actually [[StupidSacrifice unnecessary]]. Steven is terrified by the idea that Connie may get herself hurt --or worse -- doing the same for him.

* KickTheDog: Pearl basically teaches Connie to view herself as lesser than Steven.

** Garnet's version of Pearl's attempts to protect Rose during the war show what the reality of BodyguardingABadass really is, with Pearl pointlessly throwing herself into danger against opponents Rose could have handled and getting poofed repeatedly as a result.

* SafetyGearIsCowardly: Pearl doesn't seem to have internalized that Connie can't recover from the kind of injuries she can. Connie, Pearl, and the holograms immediately use swords meant for combat without wearing any kind of armor.

* ItMakesSenseInContext: An InUniverse example, Pearl is very confused by Steven and Connie's "Jam Buds" declaration because she wasn't present at the jam session where Steven convinced Connie to study sword-fighting.
* JerkassHasAPoint: When Pearl says that Steven and Connie can't know that he'll always be there to fight with her. Since they can be separated by circumstances beyond their control, it really makes the most sense for them to learn to fight both individually and as a team.

* LadyAndKnight: Pearl invokes a gender flipped version of this with Steven and Connie, and says she had a similar relationship with Rose.

* MeaningfulEcho: "Would you share this Jam with me?"

* MysteriousMist: Pearl makes one during Connie's training.

* OrphanedPunchline: Heck, the only thing heard is Amethyst telling Garnet how funny the joke is.

** Also, Garnet's version of Pearl's attempts to protect Rose during the war show what the reality of BodyguardingABadass really is, with Pearl pointlessly throwing herself into danger against opponents Rose could have handled and getting poofed repeatedly as a result.

* ShipTease: As usual there's more Steven/Connie teasing, Pearl even compares their relationship to her and Rose's.

* TearsOfJoy: Pearl is deeply charmed and impressed when Connie explains her reason for wanting to learn sword fighting.

** Implied to have happened to Pearl as well, as during the song (which has subtext conflating Steven with Rose Quartz and Connie with Pearl in Pearl's mind), Pearl says "Deep down you know you weren't built for fighting/But that doesn't mean you're not prepared to try."
* TrainingFromHell: Pearl's training for Connie is quite stressful physically (including such things as fighting armed holograms and an underwater dueling arena), but it's far worse mentally: Despite verbally acknowledging Connie is human, Pearl began systematically breaking down her sense of self and conditioning a child year to self sacrifice at the cost of her own life. Steven stepped in before it could cause Connie serious harm.

* UnreliableNarrator: Pearl romanticizes her role in protecting Rose Quartz, making herself sound tougher than she was. As Garnet bluntly explains, Pearl instead needlessly put herself in harm's way and was outmatched.

* WeAreAsMayflies: It's mentioned yet again how humans are short lived compared to Gems.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The outfit Connie uses for sword training halfway through isn't (just) a WholeCostumeReference to the ones Gohan and Piccolo from ''Manga/DragonBall'' wore. It's the kind of outfit worn for the real Indian martial [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaripayattu Kalaripayattu]].

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Steven asks Connie one while defending her from a holo-Pearl.

* BattleCouple: Steven and Connie. Actually becomes a plot point as Steven wants Connie to fight ''with'' him as an equal, but Pearl is training her to fight ''for'' Steven in the way a knight fights for a king.
* BodyguardingABadass: Pearl did this with Rose, and it's true to a lesser extent with Connie and Steven. Deconstructed in Pearl's case, as she got herself involved in fights she could not win, even though Rose could have handled them, which Steven fears could happen to Connie.
* BrokenBird: Pearl, who seems to have developed some form of PTSD because of Rose's death.

** Pearl generates numerous copies of Hologram Pearl as training aids, which Steven is understandably nervous about from their last encounter.
** One Holo-Pearl is defeated by a sudden stab through the back, which is what temporarily did in Pearl in that episode.

** Connie, in the beginning, when swatting at some poaching seagulls: "RUN BACK TO YOUR MASTERS! TELL THEM WE'RE NOT AFRAID OF YOUR KIND!"

* CourtlyLove: Pearl felt this way about Rose, and tries to get Connie and Steven's relationship to mirror it (though they opt to have a more even relationship).
* DefiedTrope: Connie recognizes that Steven is TheChosenOne and she's his sidekick, and Pearl's training reinforces that, but Steven rejects that notion and insists they fight as equals.

** Pearl is ostensibly describing Connie during one chorus of "Do It For Him", but she's also describing herself. This is upheld by her jealousy of the other gems' greater battle prowess, and Jasper's sneering dismissal of her as "some lost, defective" Pearl. Later, in "Back to the Barn", we learn that Pearls are created as made-to-order servants for other Gems and just look pretty and hold their owners' things, so Pearl was quite literally not designed to be a fighter.

* FauxToGuide: "How To Talk To People". [[AmusinglyShortList Step 1: Think of what you want to say. Step 2: Say it.]]
* FlatWhat: Pearl when Steven and Connie compare themselves to jam and biscuits.

* FreezeFrameBonus: As mentioned above, the ArcSymbol has an additional, ''pink'' diamond shape on the Cloud Arena.

* GenerationXerox: Pearl is apparently intentionally trying to invoke this by getting Connie to act as Steven's knight the way she acted as Rose's.

* HeroesPreferSwords: Connie definitely qualifies.

* HiddenEyes: Pearl gets these twice during the song "Do It For Him."

* {{Irony}}: Pearl's song from "Coach Steven" about Sugilite being overzealous and Pearl refusing to admit she's jealous comes back as subtext here. She speaks of recognizing Connie is only a short-lived human, but still insists on training her to the point of being willing to sacrifice her own life for Steven as Pearl did for Rose. Pearl considers her physical strength unequal to having protected Rose which puts the lie to her denying her jealousy of Sugilite's puissance; she resultingly puts Connie on an even worse path as Connie is human and can't regenerate.

** When defending Connie from the Holo Pearls, Steven demonstrates complete control over both his regular and bubble shields, able to summon them at will and control the size of the former. He can even use both at once, using the shield to block several Holo Pearls then generating the bubble to send them flying.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The black full-body outfit Connie uses for sword training halfway through isn't (just) a WholeCostumeReference to the ones Gohan and Piccolo from ''Manga/DragonBall'' wore. It's the kind of outfit worn for the real Indian martial [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaripayattu Kalaripayattu]].

-->'''Amethyst:''' Yo Steven! '''[[SuddenlyShouting WHY YOU STANDING THERE ALL SAD LIKE THAT!?]]'''

* LargeHam:
** Connie, in the beginning, when swatting at some poaching seagulls: "RUN BACK TO YOUR MASTERS! TELL THEM WE'RE NOT AFRAID OF YOUR KIND!"
** Amethyst asks Steven why he's upset in a manner befitting the most dramatic of professional wrestlers:
-->'''Amethyst:''' Yo Steven! '''[[SuddenlyShouting WHY YOU STANDING THERE ALL SAD LIKE THAT!?]]'''

* KlingonsLoveShakespeare: Pearl

* OffModel: Amethyst is seen in her original outfit when Steven is talking to her and Garnet.

* WritersCannotDoMath: Pearl claims to have been inspired by a knight's devotion to a person or cause, and emulated it when the gem war began. The trouble is, the gem war began six-thousand years ago, which would predate the Bronze Era and the pyramids by a thousand years, let alone the Middle Ages. Even with the show's AlternateHistory, it would take an enormous amount of [[HandWave Hand Waving]] to make knights appear five-thousand years early.

** When Connie face-plants after her warp ride to the Cloud Arena, Steven mentions that it takes some getting used to. He did the same the first time he was shown using the pad.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Deconstructed. Pearl's [[TrainingFromHell method of training]] unintentionally threatens to screw up Connie's self-esteem, and since she can only train from the perspective of a Gem, means that Pearl was planning to throw Connie into life or death situations without realizing that it would ultimately be a StupidSacrifice if she died.

* EvolvingCredits: from this episode onwards, the show has a new opening in which Steven sings the word "gems" from the "we are the crystal gems" line, Connie is carrying a sword and actually joins Steven, Greg and the gems on the beach, and Lion is also present on the beach. (The reason being, Amethyst finally changed her outfit in the previous episode, and an opening showing all ''three'' Crystal Gems in the wrong outfits would be a bit too much.)

* FauxToGuide: "How To Talk To People". Step 1: Think of what you want to say. Step 2: Say it.

--> '''Pearl:''' Why won't you let me do this for you, ''[[WrongNameOutburst Rose]]''?!

* FreudianSlip: When singing to Connie about how she should dedicate herself to Steven, Pearl repeatedly substitutes "her" for "him" (as she's thinking about her past with Rose Quartz). Finally, in the the middle of a heated argument with Steven which is ostensibly about Connie, Pearl blurts out "Why won't you let me do this for you, Rose?!"

** "Why won't you let me do this for you, ''[[WrongNameOutburst Rose]]''?"

* WrongNameOutburst: Pearl's feelings for Rose peeped out during the "Do It For Him" training montage song, but they come all the way out when Steven refuses to be considered too important to be on the battlefield, and refuses to allow Connie to sacrifice herself as his knight.

* StupidSacrifice: Pearl's selfless defense of Rose more often translated into Pearl, a GlassCannon, TakingTheBullet for Rose, a BarrierWarrior who would have been able to handle it herself ([[spoiler:though later episodes show that's how a pearl is expected to act with a diamond, and put her own safety behind her mistress's]]). Pearl's still here despite that [[NegateYourOwnSacrifice because she can regenerate]]. Connie, on the other hand, ''can't''.

Steven and Connie are having a mini picnic and literal Jam session up on the Temple hand where the laundry is. As they finish playing their ukelele and violin respectively, Steven goes to have a biscuit with jam. Before he can have a bite, seagulls divebomb them, but Connie draws the bow of her violin and swings it like a sword, driving them off!